‘No development is possible without sustainable peace and resolution of global contradictions’

The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has taken part in the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit, which was hosted by India and held as a videoconference. The Head of State participated in the forum at the invitation of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The purpose of the forum was to discuss the development priorities of the Global South and the solutions to the specific problems of developing countries.

The key states of the Global South include China, India, Iran, the UAE, and South Africa. Last year, India chaired the G20 and hosted two online Voice of Global South Summits, in which heads of state, government and line ministries from more than 150 countries were invited to participate. The forum has become a significant international platform for discussing topical issues of economic and technological co-operation, energy security, healthcare, and human resource development.

BELTA

Speech by President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko at the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit

Dear Mr. Modi,
Dear friends,
Thank you for the invitation to speak at the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit, which is turning into one of the major forums for discussing issues of the modern world order and the future of humanity.
We are united by common goals and approaches to solving global problems. These include building a multipolar world, creating a system of indivisible security, ensuring sustainable development, and strengthening equitable co-operation, as well as the most important thing — raising the standard of living of our peoples.

The era of Western domination is fading into the past. The centre of global progress, economic gravity, and political decision-making is shifting to the South and East. This requires us to actively show leadership in international affairs. The voice of the Global South must be heard in full force and match its gigantic potential.

Opponents feel this increasing power and try to counteract it.
The Indian Prime Minister is absolutely right when he says that ‘most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South, but they affect us more’.
Belarus knows this well from its own experience. For a number of years, we have been living under illegal, unfair, barbaric sanctions that not only have an impact on our country, but also have a disastrous effect on your people.
Thus, restrictions on the export of Belarusian mineral fertilisers have exacerbated the problems of food shortages and hunger in the poorest countries.

The West continues to provoke conflicts that generate flows of millions of refugees, and then cynically blames the Global South and Belarus for the migration crisis. However, the real reason is the siphoning of resources and the imposition of a system of unequal exchange on developing countries. Today, many regions are shaken by wars and conflicts, and the arms race is gaining unprecedented momentum in favour of multinational corporations. Yet, no development is possible without sustainable peace and resolution of global contradictions.

That is why Belarus has repeatedly come up with peace initiatives and assumed the role of a negotiating platform for conflict resolution. We will continue to steadily continue this work.
Belarus aims to contribute to the strengthening of the Global Majority by actively participating in unifying international structures, such as the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, as well as the BRICS, whose partners we expect to become in the near future.
Dear friends!
The world system of colonialism collapsed more than half a century ago but this did not lead to the real liberation of the so-called ‘third world’ countries, which had the status of colonies. De facto, economic and technological dependence on former metropolises remains in many ways.
Therefore, the main focus of our work today is the economy as the basis of any sovereignty. It is in the economic sphere that we have something to offer the countries of the Global South.
Belarus has been actively co-operating with the states of Asia, Africa and Latin America for a long time, since the Soviet times. We constantly provide humanitarian assistance to countries in need. However, our capabilities are much broader.
Belarus is one of the world leaders in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the pressure exerted from the outside, our country demonstrates a high level of stability and continues to develop steadily.
As a republic with well-developed industry, agriculture, science, and education system, we are ready to offer the Global South food, industrial products, technologies, including digital ones, advanced healthcare practices, including telemedicine, personnel training services and more.
We already have experience in effectively contributing to the progress of a number of countries in the Global South, their industrialisation, enhancing the quality and standard of living of the population.
In this regard, the Republic of Zimbabwe can be cited as an example — with the help of Belarus, it successfully ensures food security, develops a system of medical care, as well as maternity and child welfare services.
We may be geographically far from you, but we are always ready to be there for you in solving the most pressing tasks.

I am sure that together we are able to give a fitting response to any challenges of our time. As great Mahatma Gandhi said, “If you want to change the world, start with yourself.” I am convinced that together we can change this world, and the voice of the Global Majority is the voice of our common future.

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India has invited the Global South countries to conclude a groundbreaking Global Development Compact

“It is the need of the hour that nations of the Global South unite and stand together in one voice and be each other’s strength,” the politician stressed. He underscored that the world is currently in an uncertain environment, and situations, such as military confrontation, create problems for the development of countries. “We are meeting at a time when there is an atmosphere of uncertainty all around. The situation of war has posed challenges to our development journey. We are already facing the challenges of climate change, and now there are also concerns about health security, food security, and energy security. Terrorism, extremism and separatism remain a serious threat to our societies. The technological gap, economic and social challenges related to technology are also emerging. Global governance and financial institutions created over the past decade have proved unable to fight the challenges of this century,” News18 quoted him as saying.
According to Modi, the Voice of Global South is a platform ‘to give voice to the needs and aspirations of those who have been unheard till now’. “I believe that our strength lies in our unity, and with the power of this unity we are moving towards a new direction,” Modi concluded.
The Prime Minister of India proposed the countries of the Global South to conclude a comprehensive Global Development Compact, which will be based on India’s development journey and experience of development partnership. Modi clarified that India would start a special fund of $2.5 million in order to strengthen trade promotion activities, and would contribute $1 million to build up capacity in trade policy and trade negotiation.
In his closing remarks at the summit, the Indian Prime Minister emphasised that the discussion paved the way for the Global South countries to move forward together, and expressed confidence that it would contribute to efforts to achieve the goals set by the countries.
The summit participants reaffirmed their commitment to the global multilateral system and international law, recognised the need to bolster international solidarity and interaction, as well as to promote the reform of multilateral mechanisms in order to reinforce the voice of international law in developing countries and ensure a human-centric approach. The countries stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals by strengthening financial resources, sharing experiences in development, digital transformation, developing the private economy and promoting technology co-operation.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by