India has taken Global South along at every stage of its development: Guyanese Foreign Minister

New York [US], September 24 (ANI): Guyanese Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd heaped praise on India, saying that it has taken the Global South along with it at every stage of its development.
Addressing the 'India-UN for Global South: Delivering for Development' event in New York City on Saturday, the Guyanese Foreign Minister, while commending India for "investing in humanity", said, "India's presidency at the G20 has been very timely, and I think the stars have aligned for India. India's focus, humanity is second to none.”
“Why do I say that? India has always been a very populated country and urbanization was not always there. But importantly, as India grew at every stage of development, India was able to take the Global South along, long before this was a concept, long before we realized that we would have ended up at a place in our evolution where we would have to focus on the Global South,” he added.
The Guyanese Foreign Minister said the world needs to start looking at where “we can find effective and true leadership, leaders that will bring development and, when we speak about development, we should not get carried away by the material aspects of development, especially when it comes to FDIs and the aspects of trade. Because if you think about the world system, for most of the developing world, we are rule takers and price takers".
“India now has a seat at the table, and India is taking us on board. That is very important. India is saying to the world, look where we've come from, look at the challenges that we've gone through, colonization and all and India is saying to the rest of the world that we're going to take on not a burden, we're going to take on that responsibility of investing in humanity. And that is what is important, India is investing in humanity," the minister added.
Saying that when India is successful, it gives "others the tools to be successful", he added, “They don't tell you we can sell you the materials, they train you, they equip you because they know the society."
He said the world will be a better place if all are able to advance, adding that India was providing an equitable, balanced, and fair level of stewardship.
“Because it's about fairness, we're talking about humanity. We're talking about lives, people, souls. And it doesn't matter what religion you're from, which God you're believing,” the Guyanese Foreign Minister said.
“At the end of the day, the focus at this level, when we meet, whether it's at the bilateral level, the regional level or the multilateral level, we're dealing with matters that would advance humanity. Simply put, it is not rocket science and if India has decided to take on that responsibility, I want India to know that the rest of the Global South is with you for that journey. And we are going to do it together. Together, we're going to make this journey for humanity,” he added. (ANI)