Subsuming South-South cooperation into int'l aid architecture not helpful: India

Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin while talking at the Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation at Buenos Aires said that attempts to subsume South-South cooperation into international aid architecture are not helpful as it does not fit into this straitjacket.

"The trajectory of global growth and the declining share of ODA during the last decade has seen attempts to subsume South-South cooperation in the international aid architecture. Such efforts are not helpful. They do no justice to either its historical heritage or its future potential. Let us not venture to straitjacket South-South cooperation into a format that it cannot fit into," said Akbaruddin.

He added, "India remains committed to enhancing contributions to South-South solidarity in accordance with our means and on the basis of the principles and norms of South-South cooperation."

The Ambassador, speaking on the role of South-South Cooperation and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said that "The cardinal principle of South-South cooperation, that brought us together 40 years ago to adopt the Buenos Aires Program of Action and still binds us together, is that sharing valuable capacities, experience and knowledge amongst developing countries can be a catalyst for development. It does not substitute or supplant but only supplements North-South cooperation."

Speaking in the Indian context, he said: "India, given our large, complex and diverse setting, has vast experience in nation-building experiments. Based on this, the core of our approach towards development cooperation, since the early years of our independence, has been a willingness to share with others traversing similar paths."

He added that: "Indian formats of consolidating partnerships from the South have broadened. This includes Grant assistance, Lines of Credit, Small Development Projects, technical consultancy, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, educational scholarships and a range of capacity building programmes."

Further elaborating on the context, he informed, "Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, about 13000 training slots are provided annually to nominees from 161 countries. All LDCs are eligible for preferential market access in India under our 'Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme'. Over the last decade, India has extended Lines of Credit of about US $ 25 billion to more than 60 countries of the South. All projects follow universally recognized norms. They do not create unsustainable debt burdens and ensure skill and technology transfer to help local communities maintain and sustain assets created."

Speaking on the Sustainable Development Goals, the Ambassador said: "The SDGs represent a confluence of core developmental priorities of the South and the normative agenda of the UN. The India-UN Development Partnership Fund established in June 2017 is a new mechanism contributing to the achievement of SDGs of fellow developing countries.