DIALOGUE ON SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
Monday 27 June 2016, 13:00-15:00 H
Palais des Nations, Room XXI,
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Remarks by H.E. Mr. Ajit Kumar, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva on the occasion of Panel discussion and launch of the book “India’s Approach to Development Cooperation”

Ambassador Shyam Saran,

Mr. Vicente Yu,

Dr. SachinChaturvedi and Ms. AntheaMulakala, Editors of “India’s Approach to Development Cooperation”,

Eminent Panelists,

Members of Diplomatic Corps, Excellencies,

Ladies & Gentlemen.

It is really an honour to speak to you on the occasion of the launch of this important book which is an addition to the scholarship on development cooperation which traces and analyses the evolution of India’s Development Cooperation Architecture. I congratulate the editors Dr. SachinChaturvedi and Ms. AntheaMulakala and all contributors for this book which would make more people aware of India’s unique Development Cooperation partnership.

As there is an eminent panel to discuss this book, I would limit myself by giving you a broader sense of what Development Partnership means to India, how it has acted as an important component of India’s Foreign Policy, the importance India attaches to the South-South Cooperation and the much contested idea of the Right to Development.

India’s political leadership since independence has always had a keen understanding of development as the safest antidote to poverty. Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s philosophy on development is based on the dictum “SabkaSaathSabkaVikaas”which means ‘Collective Efforts for everyone’s development’.

Development partnership occupies a paramount place in India’s foreign policy and it is based on two main pillars, first, development cooperation is rooted in the idea of partnership that is working for mutual benefit and mutual prosperity. Second pillar of India’s development cooperation is that our partners determine and decide the priorities and contours of their development projects. This fundamentally differentiates our “partnership model” from the traditional “donor-recipient model”.

Based on this understanding, we ensure that our cooperation is extended on the request received from friendly countries. The roadmap of this cooperation is drawn in a transparent manner. The core objective of India’s Development Cooperation is to create lasting public goods through sharing of adequate, affordable and adaptable technologies. The focus is also on enhancing local capacities so that our partners can further improve upon the benefits of this cooperation.

Like most others important global players, India too invests in the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, which ensures that the benefits of our experience and capacity are effectively utilized in the development of our neighbours in South Asia. At the same time our development cooperation has a vast geographical reach ranging from Central Asia to South East Asia on one hand and to Africa and Latin America on another.

In fact, more than 60% of our budget of the Ministry last year was spent on projects on Technical and Economic Cooperation which caters to serve such diverse projects in the areas of infrastructure, hydroelectric power projects, agriculture and industry, which are mainly undertaken in the neighboring countries of India and elsewhere.

Through developmental cooperation, we aim to fill the crucial gap in national capacities of our partner countries through trade, technology and capacity building. The objective is to share our development experience that could help our partners to address their own developmental challenges.

We are conscious that the development cooperation should be demand driven, and should be based on the needs and priorities of the countries and its people rather expeditious imposition of our own domestic priorities. For us, the success of India’s Development Cooperation is measured by whether the genuine needs of the concerned people have been met or not.

As the Indian Technical Cooperation programme celebrated its golden jubilee, let me give you a perspective from the implementer of ITEC. When I was Ambassador in an African country, the response to our ITEC scholarships was quite large resulting in myself interviewing the candidates to ascertain that they were suitable and would assist capacity building of that country.

I also remember $ 5 million promised by our political leadership in the same country for developing SME in that country was approved by then Foreign Secretary Amb. Shyam Saran. I utilized $ 3 million to import appropriate machinery from India and $ 2 million for citizens of that country to visit India to receive adequate training. In this way we were able to assist in capacity building of that country.

Friends,

Of the 3 pillars of the United Nations (UN), ie., Peace and Security, Development and Human Rights, Geneva contributes significantly to the last two pillars. India attaches great importance to the Right to Development as a vehicle for improving Human Rights and views South-South Cooperation as an important element in supporting efforts of developing countries to promote inclusive development for all. However,given the still inequitable global economic order, it is quite clear that the South South Cooperation cannot be a substitute for North-South Cooperation.

A decent starting point in this regard could be the fact that the Right to Development is not to be viewed as charity. The historical responsibility of the developed world on this issue needs to be fully acknowledged. From the human rights perspective, at least as I have witnessed it here in Geneva, even on 30th Anniversary of Right to Development, the prolonged, and often directionless arguments in the UN Working Group on the Right to Development have been a frustrating experience.

The consensual adoption of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, especially its Goal 17, is an opportunity for the international community to make up for the negligence to which MDGs’ Goal 8 was subjected. A clear set of indicators for SDG 17 will give strength to the claim that the new SDGs, unlike their predecessors, are truly universal.

We hope that this Dialogue on South-South Cooperation will provide a platform for discussion on the relevance of the Right to Development and enhance our understanding of the role South South Cooperation and the Triangular cooperation can play in the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development.

India is concerned on the attempts to increasingly equate South-South Cooperation with North-South Cooperation, as we embark on realization of SDGs and other targets agreed in various outcomes in 2015. We will all agree that the South-South Cooperation, which is essentially voluntary, non obligatory, collaborative and solidarity-based. It is not amenable to the framework for measuring and assessing North-South Cooperation.

Going by the introduction and the summary of the book "India's Approach to Development Cooperation." I would again state that the book provides deep insight on the South-South Cooperation and the key role played by India through its multifarious Developmental Partnership Initiatives.

With these words, I would like to conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation for efforts put in by South Centre, RIS and Asia Foundation in organizing this event, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of India.

I thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on this subject. I wish you all the best for your deliberations and look forward to the presentations by experts during the Panel Discussion.

Thank you.