Science Diplomacy and COVID-19: Future Perspectives for South-South Cooperation

Apart from economic, political, and cultural cooperation for an equal growth of all developing countries, science and technology are an integral significant component in these levels of engagement for leveraging mutual gains. The current pandemic not only brought about an 180⁰ shift in the relationship between the government, policy makers, and the scientific community but highlights the importance of South-South Cooperation (SSC). SSC may serve as a mode of cooperation to foster the transfer of need-based technologies among developing and least developing countries and open many fronts for mutual sharing in terms of geopolitical, available resources, and expertise. The cooperation under the SSC does not substitute but complements North-South development cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The use of science diplomacy would be an effective tool to bring all the stakeholders of the Global South to a common platform to combat future global challenges. Science policy instruments would need to incorporate scope for international collaborations as a means of furthering the national and global imperatives.