Southern Woes

 

PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi positioned himself as the head of what is described as Global South when he laid special emphasis on resolving issues related to more than half the world -- particularly caused by different international conflicts arising out of geopolitics of Global North, so to say. Mr. Modi did not miss the opportunity to utilise the forum of G-20 grouping in Rio De Janeiro under Brazil’s presidency as he highlighted the multiple crises that the nations in the Global South are facing -- in regard to near-eternal short-supply of food, fuel, fertiliser leading to abject poverty. His assertion was heard well by world powers present and not present at the summit -- obviously with a promise that it would be pondered over. This is the power Global South has woven into its narrative in the past some time, particular coinciding with Mr. Narendra Modi’s ascendence to world stature. Historically, the world has accepted (howsoever reluctantly) that Global South suffers from the vagaries of politics of Global North over time -- at least a little over a century when country after country fell to forces of colonisation whose masters’ sole aim was to plunder the abundant resources of the southern part of the globe and become plush with looted wealth. Global South’s current concern is to make Global North pay for its sins of the past so as to introduce a semblance of balance in the world order. As he established his own and India’s leadership of the ecosystem of Global South, Mr. Narendra Modi has often been vociferous about what the fifty percent of the world needs -- against the backdrop of what it was subjected to by the greedy powers of the ‘upper’ parts of the Earth’s globe.

 

The most important highlight of the first day of the G-20 Summit was the launch of the global alliance (of which as many as 80 countries are members) to combat poverty and hunger. Mr. Narendra Modi’s assertive statement on the needs and wants of Global South fitted well in the overall sentiment of international empathy spearheaded by countries like India and statesmen like Mr. Modi in the past some time. There is little doubt that the problems of Global South are real and not imagined. There is also no doubt about the fact that the world at large has been rather apathetic about the issues afflicting well being of half the population of the world. To be sure, the countries who harbour sort of colonial mindset even today also carry a silent sense of guilt -- depending upon their moral coefficient. Mr. Narendra Modi’s assertion at the Rio De Janeiro G-20 Summit was in tune with that issue.

 

The Rio assertion of Mr. Modi also went well with India’s position as regards the United Nations and the reforms in its ecosystem. In that stance, too, India -- along with a few other countries -- insists that developed nations must rectify their act and remove the parallax between their talk and walk -- so that the world at large becomes a more equitable place. As he highlighted the issues of Global South, Mr. Modi came across as a statesman of true global stature. For, he was talking for the entire Global South and also the world at large. For, when an area (geographical as well as ideological) as vast as Global South suffers from multiplicity of distress on a continued basis, the advanced nations or developed countries almost lose their moral right to continue with their opulent ways of handling matters. This was, in effect, the thrust of Mr. Narendra Modi’s statement. There is little doubt that the world will not like to reject or ignore India’s stand and Mr. Modi’s assertion. For, it chooses to do so, it will have to do that at its own risk and peril. This element of unavoidability or invariability has lent Mr. Modi’s statement certain strength which Mr. Modi -- and India -- can wield capably.