India provided nearly $4 billion in food, financial assistance to Sri Lanka

India on Sunday highlighted its constructive and significant role in human-centric globalization at the United Nations General Assembly and said that it had provided nearly USD 4 billion in food and financial assistance to Sri Lanka.

At a UNGA Annual Joint Debate on the Reports of Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) and Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj said, "In our immediate neighbourhood, we are continuing to help our good friend and neighbour Sri Lanka to ensure food security by providing nearly USD 4 billion in food and financial assistance during the past few months."

Speaking about the India-UN Development Partnership Fund which was established in 2017, she said that in a short span of five years, the Fund has developed a portfolio of 66 development projects in partnership with 51 developing countries, including 17 countries in Africa, focusing on South-owned, South-led, demand-driven Sustainable Development Projects (SDGs).

Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the destruction of food and commodity supply chains, India has also been providing financial and food assistance to countries in need.

India has always played a constructive and significant role in the context of peacebuilding through its extensive development partnership with countries of the Global South.

"We continue to assist countries through bilateral and multilateral fora in post-conflict situations by providing substantial grants and soft loans. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, India stood in solidarity with the Global South, further strengthening existing developmental partnerships guided by Kampala Principles enunciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2018 during his address to the Ugandan Parliament. A total of 204 line of credit (LoC's) to the tune of more than USD 12 billion have been extended by India to 42 African countries," said the Indian Ambassador to the UN.

Talking about PBC, she said that the world today has come to a better grasp of complex and interlinked facets of peacebuilding.

The world today has come to a better grasp of complex and interlinked facets of peacebuilding. The global perspective on addressing conflicts has undergone a massive shift from resolution, reconciliation, and recovery to prevention and reconstruction, thereby making peacebuilding a critical pillar in our collective response to conflict situations.

India, as one of the leading troop and police-contributing countries to UN Peacekeeping Missions, has been an active member of PBC since its inception.

Speaking on Indian contributions to peacebuilding efforts, Kamboj said, "We have more than 5, 500 personnel deployed across 9 Missions, serving under the blue flag, 177 gallant Indian soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice, the largest number among the troops contributing and police-contributing countries."

She also congratulated Bangladesh for Chairing the Peacebuilding Commissions (PBC) since February and thanked Egypt for its contribution to PBC initiatives.

Kamboj further presented three submissions to enhance support and increased focus from member-states in fulfilling PBC and PBF mandates.

"1) we continue to underscore the importance of the cardinal principle of inclusivity in order to advance national peacebuilding objectives. Thus, an exclusively donor-driven approach to peacebuilding would not be the most prudent part to follow, 2) the ongoing discourse on enhanced financial support for peacebuilding activities through sources other than voluntary contributions merits an in-depth and careful study of its ramifications on the UN ecosystem, any decision to that effect must be consensus-based. Furthermore, the PBC should exercise its convening role more effectively, 3) it is important to set clear benchmarks and criteria for an exit-strategy in the country under consideration, peacebuilding advocacy by PBC needs to draw down when such criteria are met," said the Indian envoy.

Kamboj also reiterated that India will continue to be a force-multiplier in all peacebuilding efforts, driven very much by this human-centric approach.

Quoting PM Modi, she said, "Let us pledge to reform the global multilateral system to enhance its relevance, to improve its effectiveness, to make it a basis for a new type of human-centric globalization.