New York: India has prioritised cooperation over conflict, coexistence over convictions, sharing over receiving, plurality over hegemony, said Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan at the 5th-anniversary commemoration of the India-UN Development Partnership Fund in New York.

Speaking at the event on Friday, Muraleedharan said that India and the UN in their collective collaborative efforts through these funds are setting new benchmarks for South-South cooperation.

"In the past five years, the fund and the footprint of its activities have grown by leaps and bounds. Today, India and the UN in their collective collaborative efforts through these funds are setting new benchmarks for South-South cooperation. India has prioritised cooperation over conflict, coexistence over convictions, sharing over receiving, plurality over hegemony," he said.

Muraleedharan also said that fund reflects India's philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or The World is One Family.

"The moto Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas (development for all) underpins the spirit of South-South cooperation, which has been part of the ethos for centuries. Our neighbourhood's first policy embodies this spirit, showcased in the significant development assistance development extended to our neighbours," he said.

He added that it was a manifestation of the spirit of solidarity that during the pandemic, India came to the forefront with its Vaccine Maitri initiative to supply more than 240 million vaccine doses to over a hundred countries. It has been our endeavour to reinforce these efforts by establishing new ties, initiatives, sectors of engagement and new paradigms for corporations.

"Over the years India's development partnership has evolved organically to become a complete and comprehensive framework touching upon the full spectrum of human endeavour," Muraleedharan said at the event.

Muraleedharan is in the United States. At the UNSC debate over peace and security in Africa, MoS highlighted that a violence-free Africa is necessary to prevent external forces including terrorists exploiting the resource-rich region.

Those "guilty of aiding and supporting terrorism" in different parts of Africa and simultaneously exploiting the resources must be held accountable by the international community, he added.