The Congress on Tuesday announced the second edition of the Bharat Summit, an international gathering of “progressive” political leaders, policymakers and thinkers, bringing together more than 1,000 delegates from 70 countries in Hyderabad from November 12 to 14.
The three-day summit, hosted by the Congress-led Telangana government, will focus on global political and economic developments, democratic values, and cooperation between countries of the Global South and Global North. The event will also mark the 137th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14. Khurshid said the summit would feature 12 international sessions and eight sessions focused on Telangana. He added that the Bharat Summit will be organised annually and will also help build participation for the state’s Invest Telangana Global Summit, scheduled for December 7 to 9.
“The Bharat Summit is providing a platform for progressive parties across the world to come together, share their experiences and collectively formulate strategies to bring politics back to serving the people, rather than serving politicians,” said Samrudhha Bharat Foundation trustee, Gurdeep Sappal. “We hope and expect that the event will reflect Shri Rahul Gandhi’s vision for India and the world of tomorrow, the emergence of a new global order, and how the country should navigate it,” senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid added. The international programme will include discussions on recent electoral developments involving “liberal parties” in Brazil, Hungary, Serbia and the United States, making renewed engagement between the Global South and Global North particularly important, he said. Congress leader Sridhar Babu said the international programme would feature four thematic tracks covering geo-economic issues in the context of Hyderabad as a technology-driven and industry-led state; political renewal, including youth participation and gender justice; geopolitical developments, South-South cooperation and reforms in multilateral institutions; and societal challenges such as climate change, the role of media and information integrity. Congress leader Mahesh Kumar Goud said Rahul Gandhi was expected to attend the summit and that the party will also invite other senior leaders.
He added that international political parties were interested in understanding the Congress’s approach under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to counter such politics.
Sappal said the summit also aimed to enable “progressive parties” to develop a collective response “politics driven by hatred and division”.
