Haoliang Xu, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Acting Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will visit India from November 10 to 12 in a mission that underscores both the strength of a six-decade development partnership and India’s rising global influence in digital innovation and sustainable economic growth. The visit comes at a pivotal moment as India accelerates its push toward inclusive development and export of its proven digital public goods to countries across the Global South.

Xu will engage with senior government officials, leaders from the private sector and philanthropic foundations, and civil society institutions to deepen collaboration in areas that are shaping 21st-century progress: climate action, social equity, and transformative technology. The exchanges are expected to identify new avenues for co-investment and scale-up in cutting-edge digital public infrastructure, alongside programs that can drive climate resilience and green employment across India’s booming states and cities.

A centrepiece of the visit will be a high-profile reception hosted by UNDP India to commemorate 60 years of partnership — one that has evolved from early aid-focused projects to a modern collaboration that exports India’s innovations to the world. Xu will also participate in strategic discussions on digital health ecosystems and India’s role in advancing South-South cooperation. Flagship platforms such as eVIN, CoWIN and U-WIN — which have revolutionized vaccine logistics, immunization coverage, and beneficiary tracking — will be showcased as proven models now being adapted in multiple developing countries seeking to leapfrog legacy barriers.

India’s digital governance breakthroughs are increasingly viewed as global public goods, and Xu’s visit reinforces the UNDP vision that trusted technology and inclusive economic transformation must go hand in hand. The milestone engagement aims to build a fresh roadmap for the next decade of India–UNDP collaboration — one rooted in delivering green growth, resilient livelihoods and digital equity not just for India’s 1.4 billion people, but for millions more around the world drawing inspiration from India’s development playbook.