It is still a world of double standards: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar
Jaishankar said the main issues that are troubling the entire world include debt, SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) resources, climate action resources, digital access, nutrition and gender.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said this is still a world of “double standards” and countries that hold influential positions are resisting pressure for change and those with historical influence have weaponized those capabilities.
Shri Jaishankar was speaking at a ministerial session titled ‘South Rising: Partnerships, Institutions and Ideas’ organized by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, UN India and Reliance Foundation.
There is a growing sentiment around the world and the Global South is, in a way, a symbol of this. But there is also political resistance, he said.
Mr. Jaishankarsaid that the reality is that this world still has a lot of double standards.
He said, “COVID itself was an example of that, but I think this whole change will actually in a sense be put more and more pressure on the international system by the global South. And, the global North… it’s not just the North. There are these parts that maybe don’t think of themselves in the North, but are very resistant to change,” he said.
Shri Jaishankar said that cultural rebalancing actually means recognizing the diversity of the world, respecting the diversity of the world and giving other cultures and other traditions their due respect.
He referred to the G-20 summit in Delhi earlier this month and gave the example of millets. He said the global South historically eats less wheat and more millet.
Respecting others’ heritage, tradition, music, literature and ways of life is all part of the change the Global South wants to see, Mr Jaishankar said.
The event was also addressed by India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj, Reliance Foundation CEO Jagannath Kumar, UN Resident Coordinator in India Shomby Sharp and ORF President Sameer Saran.
Participating in the panel discussion at the event were Joao Gomes Cravinho, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, and Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica.
Mr Jaishankar further said with a few months left for India’s G-20 presidency before Brazil takes over as president in December 2023, “we are hopeful that there will be some progress on reform of international financial institutions.” Saran noted Jaishankar’s comment that “Europe’s problems are the world’s problems but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems” and said that some people think Jaishankar is tough on Europe and that this is a fair assessment.
Shri Jaishankar said the main issues that are troubling the entire world include debt, SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) resources, climate action resources, digital access, nutrition and gender.
Mr Jaishankar said that partly because of COVID and partly because of the focus on Ukraine, “these topics have been left out of the global conversation,” adding that “we really need the G20 to talk about that.” “What the world wanted to talk about.” – This was a real problem in the G20. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it very well when he said “First talk to those who will not be at the table, let’s know what they have to say,” which is why India became the Voice of Global . Southern Summit-2023.
Hosting the Voices of the Global South Summit gave India “the credibility, really the empirical basis” to say that “we’ve talked to 125 countries and this is what’s really troubling them and that’s why we need these There is a need to focus on the issues.
