Permanent Mission of India
New York

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ECOSOC Operational Activities for Development Segment (OAS)

“From innovation to impact: A UN development system that delivers transformative and equitable results for all, towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”

Session 6: Leveraging means of implementation: data, innovation, and financing for the SDGs

Panel Discussion: “Bridging the digital and data divide: Leveraging AI and other technology advancements for evidence-based policy making”

Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, Permanent Mission

2 June 2026

Vice President, Chair,

In recent years, digital technologies and artificial intelligence have emerged as critical enablers for sustainable development and evidence-based policymaking.

The SG’s QCPR report highlights the importance of data, digital, innovation, foresight, and behavioural science as part of the UN 2.0 “Quintet of Change”, and emphasises the need for interoperable data systems, shared digital tools and AI-enabled solutions to strengthen development delivery.

The Delhi Declaration that was adopted at the AI Impact Summit in February this year also underscored the need for inclusive, equitable and development-oriented AI governance, including bridging digital divides, strengthening capacity-building and ensuring that countries of the Global South are able to fully participate in the global AI ecosystem.

India strongly believes that digital transformation must be inclusive; it must be affordable; and it must be human-centric. Our experience demonstrates how Digital Public Infrastructure can accelerate development outcomes at population scale.

Our DPI ecosystem, built on digital identity, digital payments and data-sharing frameworks, has transformed public service delivery and financial inclusion.

For instance, Aadhaar has enabled secure digital identity for over a billion people, while the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar and Mobile framework has expanded access to banking, welfare and public services. It has been able to create the largest inclusion, especially of women, in the financial system.  What could have normally taken over a decade,  has been achieved in the span of 3 to 4 years.  Through Direct Benefit Transfers, India has transferred billions of dollars to beneficiaries directly with greater efficiency, transparency and almost nil leakages.

Our Unified Payments Interface has revolutionised digital payments through an open, interoperable and low-cost platform. Today, this system processes  22 billion transactions every month and in the last financial year, it has processed  240 billion transactions worth over 3 trillion dollars,  demonstrating the scale and inclusivity of India’s digital payments ecosystem.

India is also increasingly leveraging AI for sustainable development. AI-based tools are supporting precision agriculture, climate resilience, disease screening, telemedicine and multilingual access to digital services.

Given our linguistic diversity, AI-powered language technologies are helping bridge barriers of language and accessibility, ensuring that digital transformation does not exclude remote and vulnerable communities and takes all languages together.

At the same time, India believes that AI governance must remain inclusive and development-oriented. The benefits of AI cannot remain concentrated in a few countries or indeed a few companies. Developing countries require equitable access to digital infrastructure, compute capacity, data resources, financing and skills. Capacity-building therefore remains essential because the digital divide is rapidly becoming an AI divide.

In this regard, we welcome the Secretary-General’s emphasis on strengthening digital capabilities, integrated analysis and data expertise across the UN development system.

But technology alone is not enough. Bridging digital divides also requires sustained financing and international cooperation. The QCPR funding report highlights the growing constraints on development financing and the risks posed by fragmented funding structures.

Simply put, the future of development must be digitally empowered, but also equitable, inclusive and trusted.

India is happy to continue sharing its DPI experience and working with partners to ensure that technology and AI become instruments of empowerment and sustainable development for all.

I thank you, Chair.

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