Politics

India champions Global South’s cause at UN General Assembly

United Nations, Sep 26 (EFE).- India on Tuesday presented itself as the champion of the Global South and the voice of its complaints and aspirations through a speech at the United Nations General Assembly by its foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The speech marked a clear assertion of New Delhi’s growing role in the contemporary world and its leadership in groups such as G20 or BRICS.

“When we aspire to be a leading power, this is not for self-aggrandizement but to take on greater responsibility and make more contributions,” Jaishankar said.

This year, the Indian representative did not raise pressing concerns such as a recent conflict with Canada over the alleged assassination of a Sikh leader on Canadian soil.

The top diplomat also skipped New Delhi’s traditional rhetoric on Kashmir, the cause of a long-standing dispute with Pakistan, and used his intervention solely to highlight his country’s role in the current world and demand a greater role in policymaking.

Jaishankar listed the biggest problems of the current world order, such as “vaccine apartheid” and “evasion of historical responsibilities” on climate action.

“The power of markets should not be utilized to steer food and energy from the needy to the wealthy,” he told the UNGA

Similarly, the leader also complained that “political convenience determines responses to terrorism, extremism and violence” and said that “respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercises in cherry picking.”

This argument has gained traction in the third world recently, while also being repeated by China and Russia.

The Indian minister claimed that his words reflected the “sentiment of the Global South,” which has to bear the brunt of “structural inequities and uneven development.”

“The days when a few nations set the agenda and expected others to fall in line are over,” Jaishankar proclaimed.

This rhetoric for a multipolar world has been raised repeatedly in speeches this year, but is yet to translate into steps to reform international institutions, which have been dubbed obsolete even by the UN Secretary General. EFE

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