US must junk military lens

NEW DELHI: The US needs to stop looking at development through the military lens, said Jeffery D Sachs on Monday. While addressing the Teri sustainable development summit here, he said that while the US spends $600 billion on military development, only $4 billion is spent on aid for developing countries.

Citing examples of the US military approach towards political and economic instability in Somalia and Sudan, Dr Sachs said the root of the problem was poverty and there was a need for a different approach. His comment was in the context of the importance of developing countries striving to meet targets related to eradication of hunger and poverty; education, gender equality, child mortality, and preventing spread of AIDS.

Dr Sachs said that China and India were fuelling the world economy, but were not on a sustainibility horse. For sustainibility, environment is the physical base and our lives cannot be neglected in the dynamics of technological advancement. ���With the global population increasing 50% by 2050, the stress on every ecosystem including water, marine systems and the climate could be disastrous,��� he said. (end)