On November 12, 2020, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Ambassador T S Tirumurti virtually addressed the 44th Annual Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 (G77) & China.
During the meeting, he reiterated India’s commitment to work with its partners from Global South towards a strong and sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Group of 77 and China reiterates its strong support to the comprehensive implementation of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) project.
Title of the Forum:
The Title of the Forum was ‘Global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the obstacle it poses to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’.
Highlights from the Meeting:
i.He emphasized that India’s approach will be human-centric, based on principles of mutual respect and national ownership with commitment to sustainable development for all.
ii.He stated that India is assisting in urgent health and medical supplies to more than 150 countries.
iii.India has pledged 15 million dollars for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
iv.India operationalized the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for India’s neighbors with an initial contribution of 10 million dollars.
v.Tirumurti called for reform of the UN Security Council as the pandemic has shown the shortcoming of the World Organisation and other multilateral institutions.
India’s Contribution to Developing Countries:
i.The India-CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Leaders Meeting, India-Pacific Islands Summit, India-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summits and India-Africa Forum Summits have strengthened India’s special bonding with fellow developing countries.
ii.He highlighted India’s Concessional Lines of Credit of over 30 Billion Dollars, grants-in-aid projects and flagship training and Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) to developing countries.
iii.The 150 Million Dollar India-UN-Development Partnership Fund will support transformational sustainable development projects with focus on Least Developed Countries (LDC), Landlocked Developed Countries (LLDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
iv.India called on developed countries to undertake activities to strengthen ‘Convention-Plus’ actions and not do ‘Convention-Minus’.
v.He highlighted India’s pledge of 1.7 Billion dollars for Solar Energy Projects and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure as examples of Convention-Plus actions.
Group of 77 (G77):
i.The Group of 77 (G77) at the UN is a coalition of 134 developing countries established in 1964.
ii.It is a means for countries of the south to articulate and promote their collective economic interests.
iii.China is not a member, but it supports and financially contributes to G77.
About Group of 77 (G77):
Chairmanship of G77 (2020) – Guyana
Headquarters – New York, United States of America (USA) (United Nations Headquarters)
