Mr. Chairman,
Mr. President,
Distinguished Governors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to participate at the 32nd session of the Governing Council on behalf of the Government of India. 

This Governing Council is significant on two counts, both so evident.  The first is the election of a new President and the second the successful conclusion of consultation on the Eighth Replenishment of IFAD's resources.

Allow me Mr. Chairman to speak first on the election of the President.  The outcome we are confident has thrown up the most acceptable candidate in Mr Kanayo Nwanze to lead the organization through the next four years. We assure the President-elect that India will continue to associate itself with IFAD with full commitment both at the country level and on IFAD's Governing Bodies as we have done with his predecessor.

Mr. Chairman under Mr. Lennart Bage's leadership IFAD's partnership with India during the last eight years has continued to broaden in scope and dimension.  We are very happy to be able to say that this partnership has attained new strategic depth, wherein IFAD's projects in India are seen not merely as a source of funding but much more as a laboratory for innovative ideas for helping people overcome their poverty.  The India-IFAD partnership has been a mutually rewarding experience.

While India has benefited from IFAD projects, IFAD in equal measure has been able to learn from its Indian experience.

On behalf of the Government of India I would like to richly complement Mr. Bage for his exemplary leadership of the organization, and place on record our appreciation of his contribution to IFAD's partnership with India.

Turning now to the consultation on Eighth Replenishment, we are happy to have been an active participant alongwith other members in bringing it to an outcome that is not only successful but also very satisfactory.  I would at this stage also like to highlight for the information of all members of India's pledge of US $ 25 million for the Eighth Replenishment as against the previous US $ 17 million for the Seventh Replenishment.  The Government of India and the various state governments have put in significant funds of their own in IFAD's projects.  For every 100 dollars invested by IFAD in its projects in India, the Government has invested 132 dollars.  This shows my government's commitment to rural development and removal of poverty.

The successful outcome of the Eighth Replenishment consultations and the significant increases in pledges by members has given IFAD an unprecedented opportunity to expand and deepen its work through the next work programme for 2010-2012.  This dramatic increase in funding should lead to a significant change in the manner in which IFAD's programmes overcome the challenges faced by smallholder agriculture in developing countries. 

Success of IFAD in the next replenishment period will not be seen in terms of the amount of resources we all are able to contribute but measured through the number of people IFAD helps achieve sustainable livelihoods. 

That is the surest way out of poverty.

IFAD's resources for the next work programme, despite being larger than ever before, may still not be comparable to the resources committed by many other MFIs. Therefore the emphasis needs to be on testing new ideas and promoting what works.  IFAD's projects should be designed and be evaluated for their ability to be replicated and up scaled.

Lastly, IFAD should continue to upgrade the skills of its staff and its organizational capability to meet the new challenges, from the implementation of a larger programme of work to the need for bringing in greater levels of sophistication in dealing with issues like climate change, food and nutrition-security for the rural poor, managing risk and uncertainty and helping its stakeholders at the bottom of the pyramid organise themselves for engaging with the markets.  A larger work programme in our view will call for firming up IFAD's policy on country presence and hands-on-implementation of its projects.

Mr. Chairman,

On behalf of the Government of India I would like to congratulate the President, his senior management team, and all the staff members for the work done by them in the previous year.  We look forward now to a further period of meaningful role for IFAD, under its new leadership, in the development of agriculture and poverty alleviation.

I thank you Mr. Chairman.