India and the US have signed the Second Amendment to the Statement of Guiding Principles (SGP) on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development.
The agreement allows India and USA to work together for global development–providing support to nations in the fields of agriculture, regional connectivity, trade and investments, nutrition, health, clean and renewable energy, women empowerment, disaster preparedness, water, sanitation, education and institution building.
Under the agreement both democracies work together to provide demand-driven development partnership. This triangular cooperation with the US will complement India’s other ongoing and future development partnerships, capacity building and technical assistance with countries globally.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said: "The SGP Agreement, signed in November 2014, underscores the contribution of India-U.S. partnership to global stability and prosperity. It provides a framework for promoting cooperation between the two countries to meet the developmental aspirations of partner countries, particularly in Asia and Africa".
India-US relations are on an upswing based on a global strategic partnership due to commonality of values and increasing convergence of interests on regional and global issues. The changing global dynamics due to the health and economic challenge thrown in by the coronavirus as well as the uncomfortable rise of China too has brought the nations closer.
A day after US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s visit to New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar told the parliament that the India-US partnership as one of the major relationships in the world based on “fundamental convergences”. Both sides are committed to tackling contemporary challenges such as terrorism, climate change and pandemics.
The two nations are also joining forces through the formation of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to work on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region, building resilient supply chains, improving vaccine access and working on the climate crisis.
