Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually addressed the Voice of Global South Summit and condemned the Hamas attacks of October 7. He called for restraint, dialogue and diplomacy in resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict. PM Modi reiterated India’s stand against the October 7 terror attack on Israel when hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed into the country, killed hundreds, and kidnapped over nearly 250 Israelis.
Expressing concern over civilians suffering in the conflict, PM Modi also recalled his conversation with Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas and India’s humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
PM Narendra Modi condemned the deaths of civilians in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “We all are seeing that new challenges are emerging from the events in the West Asia region. India has condemned the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7. We have exercised restraint as well. We have given emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy. We also strongly condemn the deaths of civilians in the conflict between Israel and Hamas,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi inaugurated a global centre for excellence for the Global South countries called DAKSHIN and said that the Global South has, for the first time, a voice on the global stage. He also called for 5 ‘Cs’ for the Global South: consultation, cooperation, communication, creativity and capacity building.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar also addressed the Global South Summit and said India should focus on self-reliance by diversifying production, building reliable supply chains and promoting local solutions to overcome the “perils of dependence…on far away geographies”, Dr S Jaishankar said on Friday in a thinly veiled swipe at China.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India had hosted the inaugural VOGSS on January 12-13, 2023, in a virtual format. This unique initiative brought together 125 countries of the Global South to share their perspectives and priorities on a common platform.
Throughout its G20 presidency, the MEA said, India has “worked to ensure that the concerns of the Global South receive due cognizance and that the priorities of the Global South were duly factored in finding solutions to the most pressing global challenges”.
“The 2nd summit would focus on sharing with countries of the Global South the key outcomes achieved in various G20 meetings over the course of India’s Presidency. The challenges posed by global developments are also likely to be discussed. Further, the Summit will serve as a platform to discuss ways to sustain the momentum generated towards our common aspiration of a more inclusive, representative and progressive world order,” it had said.
