Partnering with Global South, India has played substantial role in peacebuilding: MEA Secretary at UN

India has played a constructive, substantial role in peacebuilding through extensive development partnerships with countries in the Global South, a Ministry of External Affairs official said at the peacebuilders meeting at the United Nations.

The cumulative value of India’s developmental projects with the Global South now exceeds USD 40 billion according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (West) Sanjay Verma who participated in at the Peacebuilding Commission Ministerial Meeting in New York on September 22.

“In the realm of peacebuilding, India has consistently played a constructive and substantial role through our extensive development partnerships with countries in the Global South. The cumulative value of India’s developmental projects with the Global South now exceeds USD 40 billion, encompassing capacity-building training programs well over the last decade,” the MEA Secretary (West) said according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

With this human-centric approach, India remains committed to being a steadfast ally and catalyst in all peacebuilding endeavours, the official said. He said conflicts are now more fragmented and that technologically equipped non-state actors, including armed militias, terrorists, and organised criminal groups with external support have made the conflict theatre much more complex and volatile.

Verma said India recognises that at the end of the day, National Governments are the ones driving, building and sustaining peace in their territories and that solutions imposed from outside are destined to fail, according to a statement by the MEA.

While the new agenda for peace captures some of the elements of the increasingly complex and inter-linked facets of peacebuilding, Peacebuilding Commission has no direct conflict prevention mandate, stated the official. “Countries in conflict settings need to be given space, time and resources to nurture such governance impulses and structures,” Verma said.

He argued that institution-building in conflicted countries is important and needs adequate attention. In this process, Women, Peace and Security agenda should also be strongly supported, according to the official release.

As per the MEA Secretary (West), the growth of terrorism, particularly in Africa, has exposed the gaps in the mandate between peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding should thus benefit from people-centric technological advances.

He said: “We recognise the fact that climate change may exacerbate instability, but it is also irrefutable that violent conflicts, for the foreseeable future, will continue to be driven by socio-economic conditions and governance rather than by climate change.”

“There is absolutely no doubt that we need adequate, sustainable and flexible financing for peacebuilding,” he added.

(with inputs from ANI)