New Delhi: Debt burdens, including the need to address economic pressures and explore more “windows of lending”, emerged as a major concern among leaders of developing nations who participated in the 3rd ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ hosted by India.

“No particular country was mentioned but the debt burden was highlighted. Part of it was in terms of borrowings and concern of liquidity crunch, effect on trade, and economic pressures. It was a mix of this and that we need more access to more windows of lending,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a press briefing Saturday, shortly after the conclusion of the virtual summit.

The issue of sanctions was also raised in the context of energy security and volatile markets, he added.

The ‘Voice of Global South Summit’ seeks to be a platform where developing countries can discuss problems and priorities related to their development.

This year’s summit appeared to seek collaboration and solidarity among developing nations ahead of the high-level UN General Assembly session in New York next month.

The leaders’ summit was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday and heads of state or government from 21 nations attended. Ten other minister-level sessions were held and in total, the summit saw the participation of over 152 ministers from various countries.

Food, health and energy issues, challenges posed by new technology including AI and cyber and the need to enhance South-South transfers of technology were also discussed, said Jaishankar.

‘More references to Gaza than Ukraine’

References to Gaza were much more frequent than Ukraine during the summit, according to Jaishankar.

“Quite a few people raised Gaza…References to Gaza were much more frequent than Ukraine. Sentiment was that the situation needs to go back to the ceasefire and negotiations,” said the Indian minister, adding that there was concern about the number of civilian casualties in the war-torn enclave.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since last October.

In his address at the leader’s summit Saturday morning, Modi raised the threats of terrorism, extremism, separatism, highlighted how India is providing humanitarian aid to regions facing major conflicts like Gaza and Ukraine and remarked that the world is facing an “atmosphere of uncertainty”.

The need to uphold the “rules-based order” on the world stage also featured prominently during the leader-level talks, said Jaishankar.

He remarked that one foreign minister during the FM-led meeting said the state of today’s international order is like an “animal farm” where some are more equal than others.

The “shifting of goalposts” in global discussions on the world stage was a concern raised at the leaders-level meeting as well, apart from “unanimous agreement” of the need for UN reform.