NEW DELHI: The world leaders, who took part in the third Voice of Global South Summit on Saturday expressed concerns over the prevailing tensions and conflicts around the globe and their impact on the developing countries.

They called for unity among the Global South partners to meet the aspirations of the member countries, comprising two-third of the humanity. Prime Minister Narendra Modi anchored the summit virtually on Saturday.

Global South is a socio-economic- and-politics based grouping of countries, which includes Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia (excluding Israel, Japan and South Korea) and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand).

Speaking at the summit, Prime Minister Modi said that solutions to concerns over global uncertainties depend on a just and inclusive global governance, “such institutions whose priorities give preference to the Global South, where developed countries also fulfill their responsibilities and commitments, take steps to reduce the gap between the Global North and the Global South.”

The Summit of the Future at the UN in September could be an important milestone towards this, the PM added.

The PM also proposed the creation of a human-centric ‘Global Development Compact’ for the member countries to facilitate trade, technology sharing and concessional financing based on India’s growth journey and in line with the priorities of the developing nations.

The needy countries will not be burdened with debt in the name of development finance, Modi assured amid concerns over many countries falling into the Chinese ‘debt trap’ under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“I would like to propose a comprehensive “Global Development Compact” on behalf of India. The foundation of this Compact will be based on India’s development journey and experiences of development partnership,” Modi said at the closing session.

“It will be human-centric and multi-dimensional for development and will promote a multisectoral approach. It will not burden the needy countries with debt in the name of development finance,” he added.

Discussions were also held on the contribution of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). “DPI’s contribution to inclusive growth is not short of a revolution. The Global DPI Repository, created under India’s G20 presidency, was the first ever multilateral consensus on DPI,” Modi said.

Agreements to share the ‘India Stack’ (India’s DPI) have been signed with 12 partners from the Global South. India has created a Social Impact Fund to accelerate DPI in the Global South and will make an initial contribution of $25 million for this.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar too, in his address, called for facilitating low-cost financing and critical technologies to developing countries.

“This gathering takes place as the world grapples with multiple conflicts, tensions and stresses. We, the nations of the Global South, are particularly impacted. The purpose of this exchange of views is to define our interests through that process. Hence, the theme of this session — Charting a Unique Paradigm for the Global South,” said Jaishankar.

He spoke about four themes — strengthening economic resilience, revitalising multilateralism, climate change and energy transitions, and democratisation of digital transformations.

The leaders who attended the Global South Summit included Bangladesh’s chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, and Fiji acting Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica, as well as leaders from El Salvador and Belarus.

Speaking at the summit, Yunus said that the caretaker government in Bangladesh is committed to ensuring a transition to inclusive and pluralistic democracy and creating an environment for holding “free, fair and participatory elections”.

Leaders of the Global South exchanged perspectives on priorities and concerns of the Global South. Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to sharing its experiences and expertise with the member nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday proposed the creation of a human-centric ‘Global Development Compact’ for the Global South to facilitate trade, technology sharing and concessional financing based on India’s growth journey and in line with priorities of the developing countries. He said the ‘Compact’ will help in the balanced and sustainable development of partner countries.

“To strengthen trade promotion activities, India will start a special fund of $2.5 million. Training will be provided in trade policy and trade negotiation for capacity building,” he said, adding that a fund of $ 1 million will be provided for this.