Water scarcity and declining groundwater levels are critical challenges across the Global South, particularly in rural and semi-arid regions. In response to these concerns, the Government of India launched Mission Amrit Sarovar in 2022 a nationwide initiative to restore and develop at least 75,000 traditional and small water bodies. The mission represents a major step toward sustainable water management by placing communities at the heart of implementation and leveraging decentralized governance and convergence of public programs.
At the core of Mission Amrit Sarovar lies a unique convergence model that brings together financial and technical support from multiple schemes. These include the rural employment guarantee program for labor-intensive water conservation works, national watershed development initiatives, rural infrastructure funds, and untied grants provided to local governments. The mission is operationalized through collaborative planning among district administrations, technical experts, and local governing bodies, ensuring that restored water bodies are both ecologically viable and locally owned.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held talks with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena at Hyderabad House. The two leaders discussed enhancing cooperation in the fields on agriculture, Pharma, technology, renewable energy, health. Notably, Paraguay President is in India at the invitation of PM Modi from June 2 to 4. He was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Ministers, senior officials and business representatives. President Pena also visited Mumbai, before returning to Paraguay on 04 June 2025. In Mumbai, President Pena met the state political leadership, business and industry representatives, startups, innovators and tech leaders.
On 3rd June 2025, President Santiago Pena Palacios of Paraguay held an address in the Taj Palace, Delhi in a conference on the Global South and Triangular Cooperation organized by the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) with support from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in partnership with Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC) and DAKSHIN. H.E. Mr Santiago Peña Palacios, President of the Republic of Paraguay, highlighted that triangular cooperation demands ethical partnerships: not aid, but mutual empowerment. Shri Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State for External Affairs of India, Ambassador Sanjay Kumar Verma, Chairman, RIS and Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, RIS also shared their insights about the relationship of India and Paraguay.
In a landmark move to accelerate agricultural innovation and collaboration across the Global South, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), in partnership with the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), officially launched the ICRISAT Center of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA) during the Conference on Global South and Triangular Cooperation: Emerging Facets, held in New Delhi. The launch also featured the signing of a strategic Memorandum of Understanding between ICRISAT and DAKSHIN – a Government of India initiative focused on strengthening South-South cooperation through capacity building and development partnerships.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said India and Africa have a "deep solidarity" and an "unshakeable friendship", and asserted that New Delhi stands fully committed to Africa's development, prosperity and progress. In his address at the Africa Day celebrations here, he also said that as Global South partners, India "strongly advocates a greater voice for Africa" in global institutions and discourse. In his post, Jaishankar also shared some photos of the celebrations and spoke of further boosting India-Africa partnership. African Union (AU) was inducted as a member of the G20 in September 2023 when India held the chair of the influential grouping and hosted the G20 Summit.
India reaffirmed its commitment to inclusive, sustainable, and future-ready digital development during the 11th BRICS Communications Ministers’ Meeting held in Brasília, Brazil. Representing the Government of India, Dr. Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, delivered the country’s statement, aligning India’s priorities with the overarching theme set by Brazil’s BRICS presidency: Universal and Meaningful Connectivity, Space Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, and the Digital Ecosystem. Delivering India’s national statement, Dr. Chandra Sekhar presented India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a global benchmark for inclusive and transformative digital governance.
The Department of Posts is advancing a transformative initiative to establish a standardized, geo-coded addressing system in India, aimed at simplifying address solutions for citizen-centric delivery of public and private services. The launch of Digital Postal Index Number (DIGIPIN) - the National Addressing Grid, in this regard marked a significant milestone in this journey. The DIGIPIN system serves as a strong and robust pillar of Geospatial Governance, enabling enhancements in public service delivery, emergency response, and logistics efficiency. It allows for logical location of addresses through a naming pattern with directional properties and is designed to be freely accessible in the public domain.
On the sidelines of the United Nations Committee on South-South Cooperation (SSC) in New York, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched its revamped South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) Gateway Platform. The new website is a collaborative space for dialogue, knowledge sharing, networking, partnerships, capacity building and the uptake of good practices and innovations from the Global South. The launch took place at the side event “South-South and Triangular Cooperation Gateway: facilitating access to digital and innovative technologies for more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient, more sustainable agrifood systems”.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reaffirmed its commitment to inclusive digital transformation in agriculture during the Mid-Term Review Workshop of the project “Fostering Digital Villages through Innovative Advisory and Profitable Market Services in Africa (FDiVi)”. The four-day event in Lilongwe brought together stakeholders from Malawi, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe to evaluate the project's progress and strategize for impactful outcomes in its second phase. Participants discussed several achievements from the first half of the project, including the development of a prototype AI-powered chatbot for the banana value chain in Malawi.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has reaffirmed its unwavering dedication to promoting social justice and decent work through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC) at the 22nd Session of the High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, held at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on 28 May. Representing the ILO, Anita Amorim, Head of the Emerging and Special Partnerships Unit, highlighted the organization’s pivotal role in facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity-building among developing countries. The event addressed the dual promise and peril of AI in transforming economies, societies, and labour markets in developing countries.
Country representatives from more than 30 Commonwealth countries – joining in person and virtually – met over four days, covering topics ranging from inclusive energy transitions amidst changing geopolitics and accelerating clean energy and clean cooking to promoting local value creation and decent jobs, artificial intelligence in energy transitions and access to finance for energy transitions, including sovereign wealth funds. South-South cooperation refers to the concerted efforts to collaborate among developing nations across these areas to meet global goals, and promotes knowledge sharing and technology transfer. The forum was held under the Chatham House Rule which prohibits the direct attribution of sources.
Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Alaa Farouk discussed with a high-level delegation from the Republic of Uzbekistan under the Director of the Cabinet Secretariat for Investments, Exports, Trade, Agriculture, and Water Management ways to enhance joint cooperation between the two countries in various fields of the agricultural sector. The meeting comes within the framework of presidential directives to strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan and to follow up on the technical aspects of implementing the outcomes of joint committees.
Malaysia is committed to renewing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on agricultural cooperation with Thailand, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu. He stated that the Malaysia-Thailand MOU, which has been in place for over 50 years, requires a comprehensive review and improvement of most of its terms. "The MOU reflects our shared goals of strengthening bilateral collaboration in areas such as sustainable agriculture, technology transfer, research, and food security.
Cabo Verde marked a significant milestone in its digital transformation journey with the official inauguration of TechPark CV, a strategic infrastructure project backed by the African Development Bank Group. The island nation’s Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva and African Development Bank Group head Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, led the inauguration of the facility at a ceremony attended by hundreds of government officials, international partners, entrepreneurs, and academia. Prime Minister Correia e Silva emphasized the park's world-class facilities: "The tech park is a good environment to connect startups and more mature companies.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, says the Federal Government plans to establish 7,000 digital hospitals in rural communities. Tijani disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while unveiling a digital hospital and school in Ibwa 2 community, located in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The minister revealed that President Bola Tinubu had directed the ministry to provide 7,000 digital healthcare facilities to underserved communities. He noted that there were about 20 million rural dwellers who do not have access to benefits from such facilities.
In a significant effort to enhance health emergency preparedness and response in Ethiopia and the surrounding region, the Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) have launched an advocacy initiative for the establishment of a Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) Center of Excellence. This initiative was unveiled during a high-level panel discussion in Addis Ababa, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Mekdes Daba, Minister of Health, stated, “Excellence is not a destination but a continuous pursuit—and with this spirit, we launch a bold initiative to elevate Ethiopia’s emergency preparedness and response to new heights.”
The Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) with support from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in partnership with the Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC) and DAKSHIN organized an international conference on the Global South and triangular cooperation in partnership on 3-4 June 2025 in New Delhi. The conference brought together global leaders, academics, and development practitioners to reinforce solidarity and collaboration among the countries of the Global South. Key themes included inclusive development, sovereign policymaking, sustainable finance, and South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSC and TrC). India’s pivotal role was underscored, from academic partnerships through the University Connect Hub to initiatives like DAKSHIN and the LiFE mission promoting sustainable lifestyles.
