India, US renew agreement for development cooperation in African, Asian countries

NEW DELHI: India and the United States of America, on Friday, July 30, renewed a global development partnership agreement for five years. The partnership entails the nations to work together in African and Asian countries on key issues such as regional connectivity, clean energy and disaster risk reduction.

India and US signed the second amendment to the Statement of Guiding Principles (SGP) on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development. The SGP agreement was originally inked in November 2014. It provides a framework for development cooperation in various other countries, especially in Asia and Africa.

The second amendment to the SGP agreement extends its validity till September 2026. The revised framework expands the scope of capacity building activities which are jointly undertaken by India and the the US. Additionally, it provides a consultative mechanism for joint biannual monitoring and review of activities undertaken under the SGP. This process leverages the combined capacities of India and the US to address development challenges facing countries in the wider region and the world.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, in an official statement, said that India and US will continue to offer capacity-building aid to partner countries in multiple sectors, focusing primarily on agriculture, regional connectivity, trade and investment, nutrition, health, clean and renewable energy, women’s empowerment, disaster preparedness, water, sanitation, education and institution building. It expects this triangular cooperation with the US to complement India’s other ongoing and future development partnerships, capacity-building and technical assistance with countries globally.

Abhilasha Joshi, Joint Secretary of the Development Partnership Administration-II division of the MEA, commented that the signing of this amendment signifies reinforcement of India-US cooperation and their joint commitment to work together and leverage their combined capacities to provide demand-driven solutions for global development. Key areas of focus in the development programmes this time are to include disaster risk response, clean and renewable energy, and climate smart agriculture.