Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to launch a new initiative to set up a coalition of countries for building natural disaster infrastructure development in small vulnerable and developing countries. “This is a new initiative that India is looking at launching. It is essentially a loose virtual coalition of countries which have capacity in handling post-disaster infrastructure development, That capacity could be financial, it could be human resources, it could be experience or it could be all of them together,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the media after Prime Minister held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on Thursday.
Gokhale said “essentially, the thinking behind this (new initiative by Modi) is that every time a major disaster occurs, immediate relief and rehabilitation is given and thereafter small countries, vulnerable countries and developing countries are left to fend for themselves where it means rebuilding the infrastructure without which the economy can never regain its position.”
“The (Indian) Prime Minister’s view is since there are capacities all over the world, is it not possible for us to link these capacities together so that if a disaster occurs in any country, the leadership and the government of that country understands whom to go to and how to access it rather than beginning from scratch,”Gokhale said, as per the transcript of his media briefing circulated by India’s External Affairs Ministry.
“This is a space which has not been filled by anybody yet,”India’s top diplomat said adding “it does not compete with UN organizations which are in relief or rehabilitation because this is infrastructure building back better and therefore Prime Minister felt that this is an area in which India with its experience and with its capacity to handle disasters can take a lead in,” he added.
According to Gokhale, Modi sought Tokyo's support for his proposed initiative because of its experience in handling disasters, its capacity building abilities, its financial ability, because Japan has a range of experiences in management of disasters and in post disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction. “Japan’s support would be important for this important new initiative that the Prime Minister and India is preparing to launch,”the Indian Foreign Secretary said adding India will also be approaching other leaders for their support for the initiative as the intention is to launch this sometime later in the year. The idea of coalition of countries for post-disaster infrastructure was briefly flagged at the G20 summit in Argentina last year.