NEW DELHI: India will host a virtual summit of around 120 Developing Countries next week, its foreign minister said on Friday, as the country looks to bolster international cooperation during its presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) biggest economies.
The summit comes following a declaration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December that India’s G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation with Developing countries and its G20 partners.
“India has always been in the forefront and consistently championed the cause of the developing world,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the conflict in Ukraine had impacted many developing countries.
Heads of governments, foreign ministers and finance ministers will participate in the “Voice of Global South Summit” where discussions will range from financial development to energy security in developing nations, Kwatra said.
More than 120 invites have been sent for the two-day summit scheduled for January 12-13 and a confirmed list of participating countries will be shared later, Kwatra said.
“Often the concerns of the developing world do not receive due attention and space on the global stage,” he said.
“India’s ongoing presidency of the G20 presidency provides us with a special and strong opportunity to channelise these inputs into the deliberation and discourse of the G20.” At the end of the summit, a summary detailing priorities and perspectives of the developing countries will be shared, Kwatra added.
G20 progress
“This summit will also be an opportunity for countries that are not part of the G20 process — especially those countries which are not part of the G20 process to share their ideas and expectations through this mechanism with the G20,” he said.
“The summit envisages ten sessions over a period of two days. These are still being planned. Two sessions are being planned to be held at the level of the head of the state and the head of the government and eight sessions will be at the ministerial level,” he said.
Kwatra said the two leaders’ sessions would be hosted by Modi and the remaining sessions would be led by various ministers.
The foreign secretary underlined that the recent global events have severely impacted the developing world across many dominates. “Some elements of this impact include the covid pandemic and the impact of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.”
Kwatra said the summit is India’s endeavour to provide a common platform to deliberate on concerns, interests, and priorities that affect developing countries.
He said this event will provide a platform to exchange ideas and solutions and unite in voice and purpose in addressing these elements of their concerns and priorities. “India will work to ensure that the valuable inputs generated from partner countries in the Voice of Global South Summit deliberations receive due cognizance globally,” the foreign secretary said.
“India’s ongoing presidency of G20 provides us with a special and strong opportunity to channelise these inputs in the discourse of the G20,” he added.
Source:https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/india-to-host-virtual-summit-of-about-120-developing-countries-in-january-1.93062796
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