New Delhi: India, whereas claiming to have emerged because the voice of the Global South throughout its G20 presidency, has determined to scale down its participation on the summit of the biggest alliance of creating nations by cancelling the go to of the exterior affairs minister to Cuba subsequent week.

From September 15 to 16, the Cuban capital of Havana will host a uncommon summit of the ‘G-77 plus China’ grouping, for which invites had been despatched out to heads of states of members and their ministers.

Formed in 1964, the group has elevated its measurement over time and at present has 134 creating nations as members. 

The group’s significance is particularly famous within the United Nations, the place it’s the largest bloc of nations with a rotating presidency. India had been the primary president of the G-77 in New York. China will not be a member of the group, however typically aligns politically with the group, so official statements at varied multilateral platforms are sometimes labelled ‘G-77 plus China’. 

Since it’s a free affiliation, summits at a excessive political degree, akin to that in Havana – that may see participation on the degree of heads of state and authorities and overseas ministers – is a uncommon prevalence.

The Indian exterior affairs minister was earlier confirmed to be main the delegation to Cuba. 

But, with a few weeks left, his go to has been cancelled. The official cause is the particular session of parliament that has been convened by the federal government from September 18, for which the presence of all authorities ministers has been made obligatory.

If it had taken place, it could have been Jaishankar’s first go to to Cuba since taking up as overseas minister.

The announcement of the particular session appears to have come as a shock as Jaishankar too had publicly introduced that he could be travelling to Cuba. In a speech on the CII India-LAC conclave on August 3, Jaishankar was talking about his travels to the area and revealed, “So, I expect next month to be in Cuba”.

This was reported by the state Cuban information company, Prensa Latina, which famous that the Indian minister was anticipated to take part within the ‘Group of 77 plus China’ summit on September 15 and 16.

It is learnt that the Indian delegation would now be led by MEA secretary (west) Sanjay Varma.

The Indian overseas minister’s high-level presence on the Cuba summit might have pushed ahead New Delhi’s declare to that it’s the ‘voice’ of the Global South, particularly because the gathering in Cuba comes inside per week of India internet hosting the G20 summit.

Since the beginning of its presidency in G20, India has positioned its time period as that which can deliver this ‘voice’ of the south to the desk for shaping world financial and financial insurance policies. “Our G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation with not just our G20 partners but also our fellow-travellers in the global south, whose voice often goes unheard,” wrote PM Modi on December 1, 2022. 

As the Washington-based Council for Foreign Relations observed, the Indian PM “sees the G20 presidency as an opportunity to showcase India’s credentials as a bridge between Global South countries and the West”.

To buttress this level, India even held a digital ‘Voice of Global South’ assembly in January the place ministers and officers from world wide had been requested to current their priorities that might be used as inputs for the G20 agenda.

In an article printed in varied worldwide papers on September 7, PM Modi additionally wrote in regards to the significance given by India to creating nations. “In December 2022, when we took over the presidency from Indonesia, I wrote that a mindset shift must be catalysed by the G20. This was especially needed in the context of mainstreaming the marginalised aspirations of developing countries, the Global South and Africa,” he wrote.

Modi additionally described the ‘Voice of Global South’ summit as “one of the foremost initiatives under our presidency”. He additionally additional boasted that his presidency will see the “largest ever participation from African countries” and that it witnessed the push for inclusion of African Union as a everlasting member of G20.