Statement by India at the Meeting of the Group of Fifteen (G15) Ministers of Foreign Affairs, delivered by Shri Dinesh Bhatia, Joint Secretary (MER), MEA on 27 September 2013

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Colleagues and Friends,

I am honoured to be here in the annual Ministerial meeting of the Group of 15 on behalf of my Minister who could not be present here. I would like to begin by expressing deep appreciation to Sri Lanka for the excellent leadership of the Group.

I would take this opportunity to first convey heartfelt condolences to Kenya on behalf of Government of India on the recent gruesome killings in their capital Nairobi. Having been one of the worst sufferers of the scourge of terrorism, India condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestation.  

Mr. Chairman,

We are concerned that the realities of global economic scenario have not changed much since our last meeting. The world economy is still struggling. Growth in the emerging economies, which was a major force for global recovery, has slowed down significantly. The slowing down of world economy has its impact on development.

We would like to recall the mandate of the G-15, which was to identify specific and concrete ideas to foster South-South cooperation and to hold a review of the world situation and the state of international economic relations affecting developing countries. With the unique composition of G-15 as only such cross-regional grouping of  developing countries, it has excellent potential for collaboration and cooperation amongst us to resolve shared developmental challenges.

We take this opportunity to appreciate the remarkable efforts put in by the Working Group on Sectoral Cooperation, under the leadership of Egypt, in identifying new thematic areas for enhanced cooperation in the Group and preparing the concept notes with  actionable recommendations on the four themes.

 We support the coordination of G-15 at the High–level meeting on World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt in April 2014. We also support the reinforcing of G-15 initiative of Joint Business Council and the efforts of the Group to strengthen liaison and engagement with Geneva-based Organizations, particularly with the think tanks like the South Centre.

We encourage the Group to actively participate in the negotiations related to the mainstreaming of development agenda in the Intellectual Property discourse at the international fora, including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). 

We support the recommendations of the Permanent Representatives of G-15 for setting up of an appropriate mechanism led by the “G-15 Steering Group” in Geneva to collaborate on Post-2015 Development Agenda and to facilitate appropriate coordination. Effective participation of developing countries is very important vis-à-vis engagement on Post-2015 Development Agenda at a time when we are still assessing the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to reiterate India’s full commitment to G-15 for further  expanding our cooperation. We remain committed to implement the capacity-building, technical assistance projects and other activities under G-15 in future.

India would like to wish all success to Sri Lanka for the proposed Colombo Summit and also to Kenya for its future responsibility as G-15 Chair.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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