No group can claim global leadership without listening to others: Modi tells G20 meet

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi told G20 foreign ministers meeting that no group can claim global leadership without listening to those most affected by its decisions.

Modi further said, "Post World War global governance failed in both its mandates of preventing future wars and fostering international cooperation on issues of common interests."

He noted that many developing countries are struggling with unsustainable debt while trying to ensure food and energy security for their people.

Clearly pointing out the role of developed nations towards global warming, Modi said that it is the developing countries that are most affected by the phenomenon, "caused by rich countries".

"India's G20 Presidency has tried to give a voice to the Global South", he noted.

The prime minister underlined that the meeting is taking place at a time of deep global divisions and as foreign ministers, it is only natural that the discussions are affected by the geo-political tensions of the day.

"We all have our positions and our perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved," Modi said.

He emphasised that "as the leading economies of the world, the responsibility towards those who are not in this room lies with us".

"The world looks upon the G20 to ease the challenges of growth, development, economic resilience, disaster resilience, financial stability, transnational crime, corruption, terrorism, and food and energy security," the prime minister remarked as he noted that G20 has the capacity to build consensus and deliver concrete results in all these areas.

"We should not allow issues that we cannot resolve together to come in the way of those we can," he further emphasised.

"The G20 has a critical role to play in finding the right balance between growth and efficiency on one hand and resilience on the other," Modi added.

IANS with superficial edits