New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a clarion call for the countries of the Global South “to unite, stand together in one voice, and become each other's strength as this was the need of the hour” at a time when geopolitical conflicts and climate change have emerged as challenges to development.

In his opening remarks at the Inaugural Session of the Voice of Global South Summit 3.0, hosted by India in a virtual format, PM Modi said, “We are not only facing the challenges of climate change, but now there are also concerns about health security, food security, and energy security. The technology divide and new economic and social challenges related to technology are also emerging.”

“The need of the hour is to tackle the challenges created by the war situation and climate change for the development journey. Terrorism, extremism and separatism also remain serious threats to our societies, he added.

“The global governance and financial institutions created in the last century have been unable to meet the challenges of this century,” the Prime Minister remarked.

“Let us together give recognition to two-thirds of humanity. Let us learn from each other's experiences, share our abilities and together, take our resolutions to success,” he observed.

“India is committed to sharing its experiences and its capabilities with all the countries of the Global South,” PM Modi said.

"In 2022, when India took over the G20 presidency, we resolved to give a new structure to the G20. The Voice of Global South Summit became a platform where we openly discussed problems and priorities related to development. India prepared the G20 agenda based on the hopes, aspirations, and priorities of the Global South," the PM said.

Highlighting achievements during India's G20 presidency, PM Modi said, "We took G20 ahead with an inclusive and development-oriented approach. The biggest example of this was the historic moment when the African Union received permanent membership of G20."

"Today, we are meeting at a time when there is a sense of uncertainty across the world. The world has not been able to completely get out of the impact of Covid. On the other hand, war situations have posed challenges for our development journey,” he added.

The third Voice of Global South Summit, under the theme ‘An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future’, serves as a platform to build on discussions from previous summits. The event focuses on addressing complex global challenges, such as conflicts, food and energy security crises, and climate change, which affect developing nations.