Development in the global south was impacted by “geopolitical tensions” and the COVID-19 pandemic, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Inaugurating the G20 Development Ministers’ meeting in Varanasi, PM Modi called for “inclusive and fair” attempts to achieve global developmental goals and said India is following a “women-led” development model. Speaking on the occasion, External Affairs Minister highlighted the requirement to deal with supply chain disruptions and reminded the developed economies that “cherry-picking” is not an effective approach to deal with collective challenges.
“Development is a core isssue for the Global South. The countries of Global South were severely impacted by the disruptions created by the Global Covid pandemic. And, the food, fuel and fertiliser crises because of geo-political tensions have delivered another blow. We must ensure that no one is left behind,” said Prime Minister Modi in a video message that was played at the beginning of the event. India, the current Chair of the G20 is hosting the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Varanasi with a focus on supply chain disruptions, food and energy security challenges, climate change and post-pandemic recovery. In his speech, PM Modi did not make a clear mention of the Ukraine crisis that has featured prominently in all the G20-related events that India has hosted so far.
The issue however featured in the “Outcome Document & Chair’s Summary” of the meeting that informed that the members discussed the conflict during the deliberations. “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy,” the Outcome Document stated.
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In his remarks PM Modi urged the G20 to overcome challenges posed by “data divide” and said “high quality” data is critical for development goals and said, “Technology is being used as a tool to empower people, make data accessible, and ensure inclusivity. India is willing to share its experience with partner countries.” PM Modi further said that women are setting the developmental targets and urged for the G20 to adopt the Action Plan for Women-led Development.
“In India we are not limited to women’s empowerment. Ours is a women-led development. Women are setting the agenda for development and are also the agents of growth and change,” said PM Modi. Speaking after PM Modi, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar argued in favour of the least developed parts of the humanity and said, “The international community must speak in unison for those most in need.” Mr. Jaishankar said, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals was slow even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global pandemic has contributed to further eroding the pace towards achieving the SDGs. The SDGs are a set of 17 ambitious social and economic goals that were adopted on January 1, 2016 to eliminate social ills by 2030.
Mr. Jaishankar described the SDGs as “landmark” but pointed out that the international community has not pursued them in a well-coordinated manner saying, “Unfortunately, since its adoption in 2015, not only have we seen the political momentum wither, but we have also witnessed fragmentation in international priorities wherein some goals are deemed more important than others. Such cherry picking is not in our collective interest.”
Mr. Jaishankar who in his capacity as the External Affairs Minister of India is also the face of India’s projects concerning international development cooperation laid down the line of argument that India is expected to take on development issues during the relevant upcoming summits beginning with the G20 summit that will take place in Delhi in September. The New Delhi G20 summit will be followed by the SDG Summit during September 18-19 in New York, the COP28 Summit in Dubai in November-December, and the Summit of the Future that will also take place in September on the sideline of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual session in 2024. “Our efforts will strengthen the hands of our Leaders when they come together at these historic summits, that I have spoken about, which are still ahead of us,” said Mr. Jaishankar.
