Global South should focus on self-reliance: Jaishankar

The Global South should focus on self-reliance by diversifying production, building reliable supply chains and promoting local solutions to overcome the "perils of dependence...on far away geographies", external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Friday in a thinly veiled swipe at China.

Addressing a session for foreign ministers at the virtual Voice of Global South Summit, Jaishankar said there continues to be resistance to a greater role for the Global South in finding solutions to contemporary challenges despite wide-ranging changes to the world order.

Though Jaishankar didn't name any countries in his remarks, the reference to China was obvious when he brought up issues such as ensuring reliability of supply chains and transparency of development projects. During India's G20 presidency, the country sought to project itself as the voice of developing countries, many of which had earlier been wooed by China through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).