India to launch network of think tanks of South-South Cooperation

South-South cooperation (SSC) has started to assume new importance across various international forums, especially after the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. India has stressed on the need to have a new coalition and information exchange among the Southern research institutions and think-tanks which could contribute in building consensus on evolving a suitable model for promoting Southern development cooperation for mutual benefit.

The launch of the Network of Southern Think-tanks (NeST) at the conference on ‘South-South Cooperation (SSC): Issues and Emerging Challenges’ being organised by Delhi-based think tank RIS in partnership with External Affairs Ministry and UN India assumes great significance. “With the growing importance of the South-South development cooperation, there is a need to widen the ambit of South-South Cooperation,” Shyam Saran, chairman, RIS and India’s former foreign secretary, said. The launch of NeST would be a path-breaking initiative on the parts of Southern countries, according to Mr Saran.

Elaborating on widening the ambit of South-South cooperation, Mr Saran called for a proactively enlisting Southern think-tanks, civil society, academia and media in this process. Due to the shift in focus, from north to south, emerging economies witnessed a robust and sustained economic growth for longer period of time during the last decade.

The shift of focus from north to south has also resulted in efforts at building a new development cooperation architecture. This changing dynamics has led to considerable flow of resources within the southern countries.

The conference will focus on collective understanding on the dynamics of SSC, Global aid architecture and SSC, theoretical framework for SSC, apart from regional and sectoral experiences and the way forward for the global south.

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