External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised on strengthening economic resilience, working for climate change and energy transitions, revitalising multilateralism and democratisation of digital transformations as the major themes for achieving Sustainable Development Goals and advancing global progress for the Global South nations.

He was making opening remarks at the third session of the Voice of Global South Summit, being held in virtual format on Saturday.

Speaking on strengthening economic resilience, Jaishankar said the experience of the pandemic, conflicts and climate events have underscored the need for reliable and resilient supply chains.

“The experience of the pandemic, conflicts and climate events have driven home the necessity for reliable and resilient supply chains. Not just that, there is also an acute need to diversify production itself in various domains to de-risk the international economy. What we earlier argued for in terms of socio-economic justice is today an equally compelling logic for the entire world in terms of predictability,” he said.

The Foreign Minister also highlighted the risks of climate change and called on Global South nations to work together for low-cost financing and critical technologies.

“The risks of climate change, the cost of transition pathways and accessibility to resources are the three big issues of the ongoing debate. During our G20 Presidency, we strove to highlight Just Energy Transitions. We must work together as a family towards facilitating the flow of low-cost financing and critical technologies to the Global South,” Jaishankar said.

He also stressed the need to revitalise multilateralism and reform the Multilateral Development Banks through the G20.

“It is an undeniable fact that even as the global order faced critical challenges, solutions did not emerge from the multilateral domain. The reason is both the obsolescence and the polarization of multilateral organizations. Here too, India has argued for reformed multilateralism and sought reform of Multilateral Development Banks through the G20. As a group, we need to press home our case,” Jaishankar said.

Emphasising the importance of digital transformations, he said there is a need for democratising it and said India’s experience in Digital Public Infrastructure will also benefit Global South partners.

“The Digital Public Infrastructure has been a key driver of the transformation currently underway in our country. Some of our experiences will be of interest to Global South partners. They could also benefit from intra-South digital exchanges and cooperation,” he added.

Jaishankar further said that the upcoming UN Summit of the Future will be an important platform for Global South nations to raise their issues.

“We welcome your views on these and related matters. Next month, the Summit of the Future will be taking place in New York. It is important that our interests and concerns are well articulated on that important platform. I look forward to hearing your views today, keeping in mind that we, as the Global South, must work collectively to ensure a better future,” he added.