Ahead of G20 meetings, India to host the Voice of Global South Summit

New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited several heads of State to attend the virtual 'Voice of Global South Summit' on January 12-13, just ahead of G 20 meetings set to begin this month under India's presidency.

Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, "We have sent out invitations to over 120 countries, and during the next few days, we will have the exact number of the countries and heads of state that are likely to be attending this." Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be hosting and chairing the inaugural and concluding sessions of the Summit, which is expected to be attended by several heads of State.

The Inaugural Leaders' session theme is "Voice of Global South - for Human-Centric Development", and that of the Concluding Leaders' session is "Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose".

The Summit envisages ten sessions. Four sessions will be held on 12 January and six sessions on 13 January. Each session is expected to witness the participation of Leaders/Ministers from 10-20 countries.

India's ongoing Presidency of the G20 provides a unique and robust opportunity for countries not part of the G20 process to share their ideas and expectations from the G20.

It 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.

Several country leaders of the Global South will attend the meeting to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform. Some State heads, like Bangladesh's Prime Minister, have already confirmed their virtual participation in the inaugural session.

Summit will focus on the Covid pandemic, global inflationary pressure and the debt problem of the developing nations.

The other ministerial sessions will be held at finance, foreign and ministerial environment levels where respective countries' counterparts are supposed to participate. Besides, there will be health, education, energy and trade ministers' sessions.