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India's BRICS presidency comes at a crucial juncture and offers an opportunity to move South-South cooperation from "representation to results", Angela Lusigi, Resident Representative of UNDP India, said, highlighting India's development solutions, technology and expertise as key contributions to the Global South.

In an interview with ANI, Lusigi said the BRICS grouping, which represents nearly half of the world's population, provides an important platform to address challenges facing developing countries, including access to climate and development finance and ensuring a meaningful voice for the Global South in the governance of technology and artificial intelligence.

"India's presidency of BRICS is coming at such an important moment when BRICS actually covers such a large part of the global population, almost 50 per cent. Really, this BRICS summit is an opportunity to move the needle from representation to results," she said.

India's Evolving Model of Cooperation

Lusigi said India's approach to South-South cooperation had evolved beyond traditional development assistance and financing to include technology, capabilities and knowledge sharing. "I think India has really moved from development assistance to cooperation that covers more than finance. It covers technology. It covers capabilities. It covers knowledge," she said.

She cited India's International Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, which has trained more than 400,000 professionals from other countries since its inception in 1964, as an example of India's model of partnership.

Lusigi also highlighted India's role in creating multilateral platforms such as the International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, saying such initiatives enable countries to share knowledge and develop solutions collectively.

Sharing Relevant Development Solutions

According to Lusigi, India's development experience is particularly relevant to other countries in the Global South as many face similar challenges involving limited resources, large and diverse populations and the need to deliver public services at scale. "India has come up with solutions that are relevant for most of the Global South countries because they are developing solutions in the same context," she said.

Lusigi further highlighted India's digital public infrastructure as an area where the country's experience is being shared with other developing countries. She said a recent UNDP-supported delegation comprising representatives from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the African Union visited India to understand digital public infrastructure, including its technological and implementation aspects.

She said such exchanges should not be viewed as one-way learning exercises, but should allow countries to adapt Indian solutions according to their national priorities.

Specific Solutions Adapted Abroad

Highlighting specific Indian development solutions being adapted abroad, Lusigi cited the electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN), which tracks vaccines and helps ensure their proper storage conditions. She said Indonesia adapted the model to develop its SMILE programme, while Zambia and Laos are also adapting the technology after participating in ITEC programmes.

Lusigi also highlighted India's agricultural insurance experience, saying more than 10 countries are part of a community of practice examining the technology and institutional mechanisms behind India's large-scale agricultural insurance programmes.

Financial Contributions and Partnerships

On development financing, Lusigi said India had provided more than USD 14.7 billion in grants and USD 32 billion in concessional lines of credit, supporting more than 600 development projects. She also pointed to India's partnership with the UN system through the India-UN Development Partnership Fund and the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Fund, under which more than USD 150 million has been committed towards areas including digital infrastructure, renewable energy and healthcare.

"Countries need more than capital; they also need institutions, they need skills, they need workable models that they can help to sustain over time," Lusigi said.

She said UNDP plays a role in connecting India's financing, technical expertise and knowledge with the priorities and implementation capacities of partner countries, describing the organisation as a "bridge builder".

Future Outlook and Global Governance

Looking ahead, Lusigi said India was well positioned through its BRICS presidency to connect knowledge, capabilities and expertise across the Global South and contribute to discussions on some of the biggest challenges facing the world.

"Through this BRICS presidency, I think India is very well positioned to open up the pathways and connect knowledge, capabilities and expertise, and also address some of the biggest challenges of our time when it comes to the governance of AI and the voice of the Global South on the table," she said.

(ANI)