NAM Summit: MoS Rajkumar Ranjan highlights inclusion of African Union at India's G20 summit

Kampala [Uganda], January 17 : Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, Rajkumar Ranjan on Wednesday spoke at the 19th Non-aligned Movement Summit, Ministerial Meeting in Kampala, Uganda and highlighted India's advocacy at the New Delhi G20 summit for the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member of the grouping.
The minister said that the move has shown a clear reflection of the collective strength of the continent, said an official statement.
"Close on the heels of the African Union's successful induction into the G20 during India's Presidency, an African country captaining two important international bodies is clear reflection of the collective strength of this continent. This is clearly Africa's moment," he said.
The Minister also underscored that change and disruption are the new normal and said, "COVID disproportionately impacted the Global South, and it appears to have a tail longer than expected. Geopolitics begets one after-shock after the other. The Extreme weather is now a weekly occurrence around the globe, even as the broader Climate Change narrative appears trapped in the vicious cycle of inadequate financing and technology transfers."
He added, "We are amidst a development deficit delivered by the pandemic, debt crisis, weaponised supply chains, and by out of sync multilateral institutions. The global economy even at its most vulnerable seems to only delivers more to the haves, thus causing a global development crisis."
As per the release, the minister also affirmed cooperation between the countries for the collective future and said, "This is a pivotal global moment. Our actions now will define our collective future. We are entrusted with fostering solidarity, envisioning the path ahead, while revitalizing NAM. Our movement has had its moments."
He said, "A multipolar and complex world requires us to go back to our First Principles. As a founding member, India remains invested in NAM, and hopes that this Movement will voice the hopes and aspirations of our young people."
The Minister further said " Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, the world is interconnected, as well as interdependent and we are living in the era of multilateralism. NAM is one of the world's largest multilateral fora mobilizing support for the Global South. It is crucial that we defend and nurture NAM's tradition of independence, so that we set our own agenda."
He added, "We are happy to see Uganda's focus on some of the key issues of importance to the Global South, especially those relating to our development agenda, human trafficking and drug smuggling and the larger issues of peace and security."
The Minister also underlined the India is a developing country with a large young population, migration especially of professionals and the skilled is an important part of our global engagement. Migration in transnational, and it requires cooperation at the international, regional and bilateral levels.
"India recognises global skill gaps, gig and platform economies, and social protection with sustainable financing of social security as global developmental challenges during its G20 presidency," said the minister.
"The Global South's development agenda stares at unfulfilled promises as it bears the pressures of the disproportionate impact of climate change, the pressure of industrialising without carbonising, and the pressure of lifting millions out of poverty--all at the same time. India utilised its G20 Presidency to redefine the way the world looks at the development agenda by linking it to each and every major agenda of the world today, be it climate change, energy transitions or digital transformation. While doing so, India remained anchored in the South-South spirit and convened two Voice of the Global South summits to guide our work" he added.
"India has leveraged technology to transform Governance, to make it more efficient, inclusive, faster and transparent. India's Digital Public Infrastructure offers scalable, secure and inclusive solutions for global challenges and we stand ready to share its experiences with the world. We offered our CoWIN platform for global good during the Covid pandemic. We have now created the India Stack- an open-source Global Public Digital Goods Repository - which we are ready to share, especially with the Global South for digital transformation and governance purposes" he further said.
The Minister also said, "It is also important to highlight the importance of supply chains resilience as its crucial to our growth and development. We recognize that, in order to guarantee better-integrated trade and production linkages, supply chain systems that are resilient to future crises connected to health, climate change, and security must be built using the 3Ts principle ('transparency, trusted source, and time frame') as stressed by Prime Minister Modi."
Minister Rajkumar Ranjan also spoke on the ways to achieve the vision to set the NAM chair and highlighted the significance upholding NAM's funding principles, its working methods, including through our collective revitalization efforts.
He also expressed concern over the ongoing situation in Gaza and affirmed India's stand in the meeting.
He said, "We have condemned the loss of civilian lives, most of them women and children, in the Israel-Hamas conflict. India has called for restraint, de-escalation and emphasized peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. India has condemned the terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October and called for immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages."
He added, "The humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza must be addressed. In this, we have called for timely and continued delivery of humanitarian assistance and welcome the international community's de-escalation efforts and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. India too has contributed to this effort. India has always supported a negotiated Two-State solution to the Israel-Palestine issue leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side-by-side in peace with Israel. We reiterate the need for an early resumption of direct and meaningful negotiations. Every effort must be made to create conducive conditions for resumption of these talks."