SOUTH’S CONCERNS

 

P RIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi once again underlined India’s core value of promoting the cares and concerns of Global South as he started his meetings with leaders of G7 and other countries at Kananaskis in Canada. In his sixth consecutive visit to the G7 Summit, Mr. Narendra Modi said that in the current world scenario, the concerns of Global South must be addressed as an international priority -- demonstrating his mission mode approach to a missing but critical part of world order. Thanks to the consistency of approach, India has by now come to be recognised as a champion of Global South and its comprehensive interests (which actually differ vastly from those of the Global North). Mr. Modi has stuck to that agenda -- in continuation of what India while chairing the G20 Grouping for one year.

 

The biggest flaw in the current world order is that it is heavily loaded in favour of Global North. It has been India’s insistence that the world must understand what actually afflicts Global South and accommodate those concerns as an integral part of the global agenda. In other words, India wants the global agenda to be suitably altered so that it becomes a comprehensive concept. Most unfortunately, the powers that represent Global North have scarcely found time and inclination to pay attention to what is pulling down the povertyladen Global South. It was out of that commitment and concern that India -- as Chair of the G20 Grouping -- insisted upon the membership of the African Union as the 21st member.

 

Thus, in just one stroke, India ensured that more than 50 African countries find a honourable representation on the international forum of G20 that covered a vast part of the global Gross Domestic Product. At Kananaskis, Mr. Narendra Modi made it clear that India would continue championing the cause of Global South. India’s insistence on reforms in the United Nations, too, stem from a similar concern for the have-not segments of the world map. In the past one decade since the advent of Mr. Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, India’s campaign for UN reforms has got a greater thrust. Mr. Modi has added a sense of urgency to the issue -- which the world finds difficult to ignore or turn away from. When India talks of UN reforms, its main insistence is on accommodation of more countries as Permanent Members of the Security Council (UNSC). In other words, when that membership expands, more countries will have Veto Power. In still other words, that will create a new sense of proportion and balance among the world’s leading nations.

 

When Mr. Modi made it clear that it would be his priority at Kananaskis to promote the interests of Global South, he was only underlining the Indian strategy of seeking a greater global parity in balance of power and also sensible and equitable distribution of common wealth as part of its belief in the sublime principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam -- One World One Family. This is not just poetry for India but a grand vision of achieving an equitable world order. Though nobody can find a fault in India’s insistence, many powers that be in the international arena do not seem to appreciate the approach Mr. Narendra Modi is spearheading. Of course, the Indian leader is conscious of those cryptic nuances of diplomacy. Unmindful of that, India has continued to champion the cause of Global South so that a better and more sensible balance of power and proportionate distribution of global resources is achieved. No matter the details of diplomatic politics, India has surely established itself as the leader and champion of Global South. True, it is a crown of thorns, all right, but India is donning it.