India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the UN General Assembly on Sept. 26 that “the inability to maintain peace is not just undermining security, but threatening progress and retarding development.” “Countries, far from conflicts, are being penalized for no fault of theirs,” he said. “Those most impacted often have the least say.” He said the Global South “faces a four-F crisis of the security of food, fuel, fertiliser and finance,” compounded by “a super El Nino,” fertilizer shortages and “impediments to grain movements.” He called on all parties in the Gulf war to exercise restraint and ensure “uninterrupted flow of energy and commerce.” He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Ukraine: “endless war must give way now to an end to war.”

Jaishankar described “a weaponisation of everything,” in which “a mindset of extreme competition has set in undermining institutions and establishing choke points,” extending “from the world of finance to constricting market access, disrupting supply chains and withholding technology.” He said “the global South’s right to industrialise is also undermined by non-market practices and market denial.” He cited “600 major Indian development projects in 78 nations,” and said India would make artificial intelligence part of its partnership with the Global South, affirming “the right of each nation” to develop “its own models and deployment strategies consistent with its national goals and priorities.” “We are now well on our way towards a multipolar world,” he said. “The post-1945 order is giving way to new realities.”