India, along with a large number of least developed countries, has called for an international programme of action aiming at reducing the number of LDCs by half over the next decade. A joint declaration issued here on Saturday at the end of the largest-ever meeting of LDC representatives hosted by India made this demand after noting that the lack of international efforts led to the number of LDCs increasing from 25 in 1971 to 48 this year.
India and the LDCs also pressed for strengthening international support mechanisms in favour of the LDCs and called for augmenting the Official Development Assistance and South-South cooperation. In this respect, the declaration called for implementing suggestions emanating from South-South conferences such as the Nairobi outcome document, the Marrakech Framework and the Yamoussoukro Consensus. While calling for a more concerted action plan by the international community, the declaration expressed satisfaction over the increase in South-South cooperation and South-South trade and investment flows. Although this has had a positive impact on the LDCs' development process, “we see [this] as a complement, and not a substitute for North-South cooperation.”
The declaration was issued at the end of the two-day meet. India on Friday announced stepped up assistance to the LDCs in the run-up to the once-in-a-decade meet of such countries scheduled in Turkey for May.
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Inaugurating the largest-ever gathering of LDC Ministers hosted by India, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna unveiled a $500-million credit line facility over the next five years to be used specifically for projects and programmes of the LDCs, five additional scholarships annually for all 48 LDCs and a special fund for the four laggards. This assistance would build on India's ongoing developmental cooperation with the LDCs which is principally guided by the priorities set out by the nation-states themselves. The conference was attended by about 40 foreign and other senior Ministers and as many U.N. Permanent Representatives (UNPRs) from the LDCs. The meet followed a visit by about a dozen UNPRs from the Caribbean countries and preceded an India-Africa summit, scheduled in Ethiopia for later this year, which will be attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India believes that North-South flows including to the LDCs have slowed down because of the global economic crises and it is time to encourage South-South cooperation along with Brazil, China and Turkey. As Mr. Krishna noted, the first-ever India-LDC meet provided an occasion to explore the untapped opportunities of South-South cooperation which can contribute significantly to the sustained development of the LDCs.
Among those who attended the conference are Foreign Ministers George R Chicoty (Angola), Osman Mohammed Saleh (Eritrea), Mohlabi Tsekoa (Lesotho), Augustin Nanze (Burundi), Hailemariam Desalegn (Ethiopia), Aminata Djibrilla Maiga Toure (Niger), Gen. Antoine Gambi (Central African Republic) and Elliot Ohin (Togo).
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The conference had observers from Turkey, Finland, Australia, Hungary, Slovenia, China, the U.S., Germany, Croatia, Georgia, the European Union, Italy, France, UNDP and UNCTAD.