United Nations: India will continue to do its best to further South-South cooperation, which has become even more crucial at a time when developing countries were largely left to fend for themselves during the pandemic COVID-19, the country’s UN envoy Ruchira Kamboj has said.
South-South cooperation is a broad framework of cooperation between the countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical fields.
Triangular cooperation is cooperation in which traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through the provision of financing, training, management and technology systems as well as other forms of support.
South-South and triangular cooperation is one of the important drivers of regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific and has resulted in increased South-South trade volumes, foreign direct investment flows and technology transfer.
“South-South cooperation and the triangle, we feel very strongly here in India, is the right thing to do multilaterally, working for development is the right thing to do. And this is the small contribution that India with its commitment to multilateralism and South-South cooperation is trying to support in the United Nations, Ambassador Kamboj said on Tuesday.
She was speaking at a joint side event organized by UN Political and Peacebuilding (UN DPPA) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) on South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Peace and Development at the Global Expo South-South Development. The event presented concrete South-South and triangular cooperation initiatives in the field of peace and development implemented by Global South, with the support of UN DPPA and UNDP.
The event aimed to explore measures to promote strategic, coordinated and coherent policy and programmatic support for South-South and triangular cooperation to enhance the impact of all UN activities at the national, regional and global levels.
Kamboj said the COVID pandemic tested the resilience of multilateral institutions and the global South has largely been fending for itself. Realizing that the global South is mostly left to fend for itself during the pandemic, South-South cooperation has become even more crucial. India is and will continue to do its best to take this forward, she said.
Kamboj pointed out that India has taken the lead in establishing the International Solar Alliance and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure that strive to develop and deploy cost-effective and transformative solutions.
Noting that at a time when funds to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are being squeezed or redefined to more immediate requirements due to the pandemic, Kamboj said: we must ensure that funds are used to the maximum to achieve the SDGs .
As we seek to build better from the pandemic, it is essential that not only does the global South continue to show strong solidarity and share resources, but it is equally important that developed countries step forward in the same spirit and ensure that we do not weaken our capacity to achieve the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, she said, adding that India follows the conversation here.
On the COVID-19 vaccines, Kamboj noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a “One Earth One Health” approach underscores our continued commitment to the Global South, already evident in the supply of more than 240 million doses of vaccines to over 100 countries.
The motto of the Government of India – together for the growth of all, with the faith and effort of all – resonates with the SDG’s core principle of leaving no one behind, she said.
On peacekeeping, Kamboj said India has a very strong footprint and our strong advocacy for infusing new and advanced technology in peacekeeping missions to overcome security and mandate implementation challenges deserves special mention.
In 2021, under the presidency of the Security Council of India, and at a cost of USD 1.6 million, India supported the launch of the UNITE Aware platform, aimed at enhancing the safety and security of peacekeepers.
Kamboj highlighted the importance of India’s UN Development Partnership Fund, a “very unique initiative led by India in the context of South-South cooperation.
Launched in 2017 with a value of USD 150 million, it supports South-owned and South-led sustainable development projects, focusing on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), LLDCS (Least Developed Countries at sea) and SIDS (Small Island Developing States).
As part of the response to COVID, the India-UN fund has commissioned projects in 15 countries ranging from Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean to Palau, the Bahamas, to Bolivia and countries like Mali, covering a wide spectrum of sectors and issues ranging from health, education, drinking water supply, vaccinations against COVID, building disaster-resilient infrastructure, empowering women, building capacity and creating innovation hubs.
PTI
