Lucknow: India has provided a grant of US $ 1 million to Lao PDR (Laos), which will be used to meet food requirements. This move by India has once again demonstrated its strong commitment to the Global South (poor and developing countries).
Responding to the request of the Lao PDR government, the Government of India has provided a grant of approximately US $ 1 million under the India-UN Development Partnership Fund for the project ‘Strengthening Food Fortification at Large Scale: Investing in Rice Fortification’, India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Headquarters in New York said in a statement.
The Indian Mission said the project aims to promote food fortification programmes, address long-term supply of nutrition-specific strategies, strengthen food systems, enhance nutritional diversity and address micronutrient deficiencies in Lao PDR. India’s support to this project is a reflection of India’s deep ties with Lao PDR, which cover many areas of cooperation.
The India-United Nations Development Partnership Fund, established by the Government of India in June 2017, provides assistance to projects in developing countries that aim to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This fund gives centrality to the principles of South-South cooperation and prioritizes national ownership and leadership, equality, sustainability and local capacity development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently visited Laos, said that the entire ASEAN region, including Laos, is at the center of India’s Indo-Pacific vision and Quad cooperation.
Under this partnership fund, India recently distributed 4,500 books to 1,500 children in 82 schools in different areas of El Salvador. So far, the Government of India has provided an amount of US $ 150 million for this fund.
