Lukashenko's speech at Voice of the Global South summit

Speech by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at the III “Voice of the Global South” summit

Dear Mr. Modi!

Dear friends!

Thank you for the invitation to speak at the third “Voice of the Global South” summit, which is turning into one of the major forums for discussing issues of the modern world order and the future of humanity.

We are united by common goals and approaches to solving world problems. This is building a multipolar world, creating an indivisible security system, ensuring sustainable development, and strengthening equal cooperation. And the most important thing is to improve the standard of living of our peoples.

The era of Western dominance is becoming a thing of the past. The center of global progress, economic gravity, and political decision-making is shifting to the South and East. This requires us to exercise greater leadership in international affairs. The voice of the Global South must be heard in full force and live up to its gigantic potential.

Opponents sense this growing power and are trying to counteract it.

The Prime Minister of India is absolutely right when he says that “most of the global problems were not created by the Global South, but they affect us more.”

Belarus knows this well from its own experience. For a number of years we have been living under illegal, unfair, barbaric sanctions, which not only have an impact on our country, but also have a detrimental effect on your people.

Thus, restrictions on the export of Belarusian mineral fertilizers have exacerbated the problems of food shortages and hunger in the poorest countries.

The West continues to provoke conflicts that generate multimillion-dollar refugee flows, and then cynically blames the Global South and us for the migration crisis. However, the real reason is pumping out resources and imposing a system of unequal exchange on developing countries.

Today, many regions are rocked by wars and conflicts; to please transnational corporations, the arms race is gaining unprecedented momentum. But without sustainable peace and resolution of global contradictions, no development is possible.

That is why Belarus has repeatedly come up with peace initiatives and taken on the role of a negotiating platform for conflict resolution. We will continue to steadily continue this work.

Belarus aims to contribute to the strengthening of the Global Majority by actively participating in the international structures that unite us: the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as well as BRICS, of which we expect to become partners in the near future.

Dear friends!

More than half a century ago, the world system of colonialism collapsed, but this did not lead to the real liberation of the countries of the so-called third world. De facto, economic and technological dependence on the former metropolises remains.

Therefore, the main front of our work today is the economy as the basis of any sovereignty. And it is in the economic sphere that we have something to offer the countries of the Global South.

We have been actively cooperating with the states of Asia, Africa and Latin America for a long time and actively, since the times of the USSR. We constantly provide humanitarian assistance to countries in need. However, our capabilities are much wider.

Belarus is one of the world leaders in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the external pressure, our country demonstrates a high degree of stability and continues to develop progressively.

As a republic with well-developed industry, agriculture, science, and an education system, we are ready to offer the Global South food, industrial products, technologies, including digital ones, advanced practices in healthcare, including telemedicine, personnel training services and other areas.

We already have experience in effectively promoting the progress of a number of countries in the Global South, their industrialization, and improving the quality and standard of living of the population.

As an example, we can cite the Republic of Zimbabwe, which, with our help, is successfully solving food security, developing a system of providing medical care and protecting mothers and children.

We may be far from you geographically, but we are always ready to be close to you in solving your most pressing problems.

I am sure that together we are able to give a worthy response to any challenges of our time.

As the great Mahatma Gandhi said: “If you want the world to change, become that change yourself.” I am convinced that together we can change this world, and the voice of the Global Majority is the voice of our common future.

Thank you for your attention.