123 countries joined Voice of Global South summit; China, Pakistan not invited

New Delhi, China and Pakistan were not among the invitees to the third Voice of Global South Summit hosted by India on Saturday on the virtual format that was joined by 123 nations across the globe.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed this at a media briefing after conclusion of the summit that focused on unitedly dealing with challenges facing the Global South or the developing countries.

Jaishankar said 123 countries participated at the summit.

Twenty-one countries were represented at the level of head of state and government while 34 foreign ministers joined it, according to the external affairs minister.

Apart from the foreign ministers, 118 ministers also joined the summit that comprised 10 ministerial sessions.

In the last few years, India has been positioning itself as a leading voice, flagging concerns, challenges and aspirations of the Global South or the developing nations, especially the African continent.

As the G20 president last year, India focused on issues like inclusive growth, digital innovation, climate resilience, and equitable global health access with an aim to benefit the Global South.

The countries whose heads of state and government attended the third Voice of Global South summit summit are Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Chile, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Lao PDR, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tajikistan, Timor Leste, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Leaders' session at the summit.

Sharing details of the summit, Jaishankar said challenge of climate change figured prominently at the summit while many leaders spoke about debt burden and challenges of new technologies.

There was unanimous view on the need to reform the global governance architecture, he said adding the situation in Gaza also came up during the deliberations.

Some of the leaders also talked about sovereignty, strategic autonomy and interference and expressed concerns in that regard, Jaishankar said.

At the foreign ministerial sessions, the challenge of debt distress and slow credit growth also figured, he said.

Other issues that came up at the foreign ministerial sessions were the rules based order, sovereignty, equality, mutual respect and partnership of the equals.