Steering Committee on partnership for SIDS

Ambassadorial Meeting

INDIA STATEMENT

By 

Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti

Permanent Representative

9 June 2020

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to thank the PRs of Antigua and Barbuda and Malta for hosting the first virtual Ambassadorial meeting of the Steering Committee on partnership for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).  

The COVID-19 pandemic flattened the planet in terms of its impact and distress caused. But it has impacted disproportionately on countries and regions, particularly on SIDS. 

For example, with the tourism sector coming to a complete halt, the devastation has been far more for SIDS for whom the sector accounts for almost 30% of GDP. 

In many ways, COVID and climate change have come as a double blow for SIDS. 

Excellencies, 

India stands ready to partner and is already partnering SIDs. We are fully conscious of your priorities and your requirements. We will do our best to see how we can partner you in this quest. 

Apart from two summits earlier, under the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPC) last year, India organized the first India-PSIDS and India-CARICOM leader’s meeting in New York. At this meeting, India announced a US$26 million grant to CARICOM and PSIDS for high impact developmental projects in the areas of their choice. 

In addition, concessional Lines of Credit of US$300 Million was announced which can be availed for undertaking inter alia, solar, renewable energy and climate related projects based on each country’s priorities.

Excellencies, 

Allow me to mention that India is assisting SIDS partners to combat COVID-19 under the India-UN Development Partnership Fund, which was established in 2017 to provide for assistance to developing countries including LDCs, LLDCs & SIDS for projects that contribute to the attainment of SDGs. 

India is committed to assist our SIDS partners to tackle the impact of climate change. Just yesterday, a regional initiative was launched in Suva under the India Fund which will see Solar Photovoltaic systems installed on buildings of national significance in Fiji, Micronesia, Palau, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. 

India is also partnering with SIDS in the area of capacity building. We have agreed to set up an Institute for Sustainable Coastal and Ocean Research, a network of marine biology research stations, and the setting up of IT laboratories for Pacific Island states. 

At the India-CARICOM meeting, we announced setting up of the Regional Center for Excellence in Information Technology in Georgetown, Guyana and a Regional Vocational Training Center in Belize. 

We will continue to partner SIDS in a range of priority areas, as we navigate through COVID times. 

Thank you.