As the outgoing international order becomes chaotic, the voice of the Global Southeast countries is sounding more ambitious and loud, which was confirmed last Saturday by the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit, traditionally convened by India. Although our country geographically does not belong to this space, in our spirit, approaches and goals, we are rightfully an integral part of this progressive Global Majority.
The Head of the Belarusian state, who took part in this event at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, clearly and substantively emphasized this in his speech.
It is obvious that the peacekeeping efforts undertaken by Minsk, including to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, fully coincide with the spirit and letter of Modi's famous thesis, who very accurately noted at the SCO summit in Samarkand in 2022 that the current era is not the era of war. It is also true that it is the developing countries of the Global Southeast, which form the backbone of the Non-Aligned Movement, which have suffered the most from the colonial oppression of past centuries, as well as modern neo-colonial practices, that should be at the forefront and take responsibility for building a new world order. The most important task in the context of consolidating the international leadership of the Global Majority countries is to consolidate the efforts of the analytical community in this space and build up its institutional potential.
In November 2023, during the 2nd Voice of the Global South Summit, Modi initiated the DAKSHIN ("South" in Hindi) Global South Centre of Excellence in India, which aims to find innovative solutions in the interests of scaling the best practices of developing countries. First of all, in agriculture, healthcare and the financial sector. And since last year, the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research, acting in line with a proactive approach, has been working on modalities of cooperation with the DAKSHIN Center. In May, an online conference hosted an introductory meeting of the BISR management and analysts with representatives of this structure.
The issue of signing a memorandum of understanding between BISR and DAKSHIN is currently being elaborated in order to institutionalize further cooperation. The Indian side is interested in joining BISR to its network of NeST analytical centers. For our part, we declare our readiness to actively and substantively engage in developing the Global South Science and Technology Initiative proposed by DAKSHIN for the exchange of experience between developing countries in the field of science and technology. We are fully ready to share our competencies, knowledge, experience and technologies in the field of sustainable development with our partners on a mutually beneficial basis. There is something to offer for all the key priorities of Belarus.
Within the framework of the Universal Global Development Program initiated by New Delhi, Minsk is ready to join the processes of promoting inclusive and balanced socio-economic development in sectors such as education, banking and finance, connectivity infrastructure, climate finance and technology. In particular, the Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE) initiative, which provides for the use of a closed-loop economy, may be of interest.
An important area of practical cooperation between the Global South countries can be assistance to African countries within joint projects. First of all, in order to promote the industrialization of agriculture and ensure food security, which Minsk is already doing in a number of African countries (for example, in Zimbabwe). The fact that the permanent membership of the African Union in the G20 was granted last year, largely due to the efforts of Indian diplomacy, only underlines the importance of this rapidly developing continent and the importance of its support.
Therefore, the recognition of Minsk by the progressive Global Majority, which was confirmed by the fact that our national leader was invited to participate in the summit, can be considered as a breakdown of an established geopolitical template, when geography and distance no longer have a decisive significance.