Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India’s G20 presidency has tried to give a voice to the global south.
“After years of progress, we are at risk today of moving back on the sustainable development goals. Many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debts while trying to ensure food and energy security. They are also most affected by global warming caused by richer countries. This is why India’s G20 presidency has tried to give a voice to the global south,” he said.
Modi was addressing G20 foreign ministers’ summit through a video message.
“The experience of the last few years – financial crisis, climate change, pandemic, terrorism, and wars – clearly shows that global governance has failed in both its mandates. We must all acknowledge that multilateralism is in crisis today,” he said.
Modi said the gathering should acknowledge the “tragic consequences of this failure” were being faced most of all by the developing nations.
PM Modi urged world leaders to find “common ground” on divisive issues. “We are meeting at a time of deep global divisions. We have a responsibility to those, not in this room,” he said.
“We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can.”
He said it was “but natural that discussions would be affected by the geopolitical tensions”.
“However, as the leading economies of the world, we also have a responsibility towards those who are not in this room. The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth,” he added.
Urging the members to deliver “concrete results”, Modi said G20 has the capacity to build consensus.
“We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can,” he said.
He asked the leaders to focus on what united the world and not what divided it.
“I am sure that today’s meeting will be ambitious, inclusive, action-oriented, and will rise above differences,” he concluded.
