New Delhi has emphasized the importance of “self-reliance” for the developing world to be less vulnerable against rich economies
India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Friday suggested that there “continues to be a resistance” against a greater role for the Global South in shaping solutions for key international issues.
Jaishankar, in his remarks at the Foreign Ministers’ Session of the Voice of the Global South summit hosted by New Delhi, emphasized the need “to take everyone along, and everyone’s views along” during deliberations at multilateral and plurilateral forums.
The minister further emphasized “self-reliance” to mitigate the Global South’s economic “vulnerabilities.” “The Covid era is a stark reminder of the perils of dependence for basic necessities on far-away geographies,” he said. At the same time, Jaishankar noted, the Global South must build “resilient and reliable supply chains” and promote locally-developed solutions.
He expressed similar sentiments when he addressed the UN General Assembly in September.
“At a time when East-West polarization is so sharp and North-South divide so deep, the New Delhi Summit also affirms that diplomacy and dialogue are the only effective solutions. The international order is diverse and we must cater for divergences, if not differences. The days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over,” he said.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged leaders from the Global South to forge a consensus in addressing emerging challenges, particularly those unfolding in the Middle East. Reiterating India’s condemnation of the Hamas attack on Israel, he also condemned the death of civilians in Gaza and reiterated that New Delhi has always “emphasized the need for dialogue and diplomacy.”
Also on Friday, India’s main opposition party Congress criticized “influential countries” for their silence on alleged human-rights abuses in Gaza. These countries “choose to speak the language of human rights and justice when convenient,” but apply “double standards” when it comes to Ukraine and Palestine, the party’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
