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Hans India
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Gender justice, feminist future dominate dialogue at Bharat Summit
Hyderabad: While showcasing Telangana as the most favourite destination for the global investments, the state government accorded a warm reception to the international delegates at the Bharat Summit-2025, which began on colourful note on Friday. The 2-day summit, an initiative of the state government, enthralled the delegates, as folk artists showcased Telangana's artforms like Bonalu and Dappu (drumbeats) upon their arrival at the venue. Over 450 delegates representing different fields from 100 countries across the world are taking part in this event. They include heads of governments, Members of Parliaments, representatives of political parties, chiefs of major corporations and those reputed as think-tanks in different domains are participating in this major event aimed at showcasing Telangana as a model state with progressive thinking to the global audience. The delegates attended the series of panel discussions, including Gender Justice and a Feminist Future, Fact vs Fiction: Countering Disinformation, Youth & Politics of Tomorrow and Shaping New Multilateralism on first day of summit. Ann Linde, former Foreign Affairs minister of Sweden said that irrespective of living in developed or underdeveloped countries, women are facing discrimination when it comes to their representation as lawmakers. She urged global leaders for equal share in the government positions and lauded India's 33 per cent reservation efforts for women. 'There are less women parliamentarians despite all the progressive movements for proper representation of women. I hope that the next UN General Secretary will be a female,' she said while briefing the media on the first panel discussion of the day. The Telangana ministers, including Deputy Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, D Sridhar Babu, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Jupally Krishna Rao, coordinated with delegates to ensure smooth conduct of the programme. Bhatti said the Congress was setting the clear direction through the Bharat Summit with the three basic principles of non-violence, truth and social justice. Addressing the media, he said that the delegates coming across from the globe were understanding how the Congress party's core principles are being taken forward by combining social justice and development. He said that the representatives attending the Bharat Summit were informed about the schemes like 40,000 MW electricity generation by 2035 through the Clean and Green New Energy Policy, industrial clusters being set up between the Regional Ring Road and Outer Ring Road, Future City, Musi Rejuvenation, Knowledge IT Center, establishment of Young India Integrated Residential Schools, Rajiv Yuva Vikasam and amongst others. He said that the representatives expressed happiness over the development and welfare being implemented by the state government. 'The representatives attending the summit welcomed and appreciated the efforts made by the Telangana government in taking forward the global justice decision taken by the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,' he affirmed. Senior leader and former Union minister Salman Khurshid said, 'Bharat Summit is an initiative of the Telangana government. One key aspect is attracting investment from India and abroad so that the people of Telangana can benefit from development and growth. The idea is to build the global profile of Telangana, which in turn adds to the global stature of India. Data and analysis are essential to achieve our vision of social justice, and like-minded countries have shown great support. What we have here is a progressive alliance.'
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Gender equality brings more inclusiveness, less violence and lasting peace'
Former Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde said that gender equality can promote more inclusiveness, less violence, and lasting peace. Ms. Linde was speaking to the media on Friday during the Bharat Summit, which saw several foreign delegates, academicians, and experts. 'There is less inter- and intra-state conflict [when there is gender equality]. If you have more gender equality in society, you use less violence to solve conflicts, and that is very important. Also, if you have peace negotiations involving women, there is 20% bigger sustainability for two years, and a 35% higher possibility for a peace agreement lasting for 15 years,' she said, adding that there was research available on the subject. She pointed out that gender equality was not dichotomous as regards developed or developing countries. While some countries in Europe have more gender equality, others have less. 'We had a feminist foreign policy in Sweden, which was the first in the world. And there were many countries following [the move]. Nearly 20 countries pursue a feminist foreign policy,' she said. Touching upon women in the political arena, Ms. Linde said that India had many such political leaders, as is the case with other countries. 'India has had many more female leaders than Sweden. We didn't get our first woman Prime Minister until 2021, which was my party leader,' she said. Ms. Linde said that 2024 was a 'super election year' in which several countries elected their leaders but fewer women were elected as parliamentarians. The case in Germany was similar, with fewer women compared to men in Parliament. Feminist trade policy A feminist government, as is the case in Sweden, meant that women would have the same rights, resources and representation as men. A feminist trade policy doesn't witness much discussion but is important, she said. 'But when you look at the aggregate data, you could find that a silk shirt for women has six times as high a tariff as the equivalent shirt for men. When it comes to sportswear, tariffs are three times high for women's products compared to that of men's sportswear. And when it comes to underwear, it is double.' Ms. Linde opined that there was no other explanation for these disparities than gender. She expressed confidence that it was possible to have a feminist trade policy.
