We need reform to ensure a debt-free Global South: India at the UN

India has called for a concerted global effort to reform the international financial architecture to ensure debt sustainability and prevent debt traps for the Global South, which has been disproportionately impacted by multiple crises.

India’s permanent representative to the UN, ambassador P. Harish, was addressing the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, on 'Fostering Resilience and Growth in an Uncertain World', on Tuesday, 8 October.

Harish drew attention to how development gains have gone off the rails, threatening progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets.

“A concerted global effort is required to reform the international financial architecture to ensure debt sustainability and prevent debt traps, provide access to affordable finance, and address inequalities in global trade and investment flows,” Harish said.

Highlighting the need to focus on the issues of the most vulnerable, “with the aim of leaving no one behind”, Harish said, “Empowering women and youth is the key to building resilient societies.”

Harish went on to highlight India's achievements including leveraging of digital technology and how it can be replicated for the developing world, and listed steps taken by India to combat climate change.

“[The] Global South should voice its shared concerns and coalesce around common interest[s],” he said, adding, India has not just walked the talk on climate action but taken various steps over the last few years.

He listed the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the Coalition of Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, the International Solar Alliance and the Mission LiFe (Lifestyle for Environment), among others, as India's concrete steps towards climate action.

Harish also highlighted that India took up the issue of Global South through the three Global South Summits.