India on Wednesday called for a fundamental shift in the way development is defined and measured, urging the international community to move beyond GDP-centric growth and adopt a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable development model to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Addressing the General Debate at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, said the remaining years until 2030 demanded “a fundamental reorientation of what development means and how it should be measured”.Speaking on the forum’s theme, “Transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated actions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals for a sustainable future for all,” the envoy said India’s experience over the past decade had shown that development at scale and speed was achievable.He highlighted India’s renewable energy transition, digital public infrastructure and expanded social protection systems, saying they had benefited hundreds of millions of people while narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas. However, he cautioned that economic growth alone was insufficient to address structural inequalities.“Inclusive development requires deliberate design,” Parvathaneni said.Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, he said India believed development must be sustainable and ensure inclusive prosperity.The ambassador said India was advocating a development paradigm that restores ecological systems while generating livelihoods, strengthens human capabilities and community resilience, and recognises the care economy as productive infrastructure rather than invisible labour. He added that empowering women and youth as agents of change was central to this approach.Parvathaneni said the vision of Viksit Bharat (Developed India) by 2047 incorporates these principles through a focus on clean energy, regenerative agriculture, urban sustainability, universal healthcare and education, and skill development for the green and digital economy. He also highlighted Mission LiFE as an initiative promoting environmentally responsible lifestyles through individual and community action.The envoy said India was aligning its domestic policy framework with the SDGs while moving beyond GDP as the primary measure of national progress. He said the country’s SDG localisation model follows a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach involving all stakeholders.At the global level, Parvathaneni stressed that developing countries needed equitable access to finance and technology to support their transition to sustainable development models. He also called for innovation to be treated as a global public good and reiterated India’s demand for reforms in the international financial architecture to ensure more equitable development.Invoking India’s civilisational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), the diplomat said the country remained committed to leaving no one behind, mobilising resources where they were needed most, and leading by example in pursuing a regenerative development pathway for humanity and the planet.