United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been "very vocal" about issues that will be taken up at 'The Voice of Global South Summit' scheduled to be hosted by India on January 12-13, a UN spokesperson has said, as per the statement of the press briefing released on UN website.
Addressing a press briefing on January 6, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said that Guterres has been vocal about how the developing nations have been impacted by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the unequal approach in handling the COVID-19 crisis.
Dujarric made the statement in response to a question about the UN being invited to the virtual summit which is scheduled to be hosted by India next week to highlight key issues, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, decreasing access and affordability of food, fertilizers, etc and rising deaths.
"I will check. Obviously, these are issues, which the Secretary-General I think has been very vocal about and flagging how much the developing countries have been hurt by the conflict in Ukraine, by the unequal approach to solving the COVID crisis, dead relief, and so on, but I will check," Stephane Dujarric said in the press briefing as per the statement released on the UN website.
Notably, India will host a special virtual Summit on January 12-13, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release. The "Voice of Global South Summit" set to be held under the theme "Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose" envisages bringing together countries of the Global South to share their views on a common platform. More than 120 countries have been invited to participate in the virtual summit.
In the press release, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "India's ongoing Presidency of the G20 provides a special and strong opportunity for those countries that are not part of the G20 process to share their ideas and expectations from the G20."
It further said, "This is in line with Prime Minister's statement that India's G20 Presidency will be shaped in consultation with not just our G20 partners, but also our fellow travellers in the Global South, whose voice often goes unheard."
The Summit will include 10 sessions, four of them will be held on January 12 while six others are scheduled to be held on January 13. Each session is expected to witness the participation of leaders from 10-20 countries.
The initiative is inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, and Sabka Prayas. Furthermore, it is underpinned by India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
( With inputs from ANI )
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