India will host a two-day Voice of the Global South Summit in the virtual mode next week to channelise the concerns and priorities of the lesser developed countries into the discourse of the G20 summit scheduled for September in the capital.

This was announced by foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kawatra at a briefing here on Friday.

It essentially seeks to provide a voice to the countries unrepresented in the G20 at a time when the global south is facing the blowback of twin developments — the pandemic and the Ukraine conflict — in terms of shortage of food, fertilisers and fuel. Their views, Kawatra said, are often not reflected on global platforms.

More than 120 countries have been invited to attend the Global South Summit across 10 sessions of which two will be for heads of state/ government presided over by Prime Minister Modi. However, Kawatra did not name the countries which have confirmed participation.