India's success is critical for the global success of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Question

Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R).

Assertion (A): India's success is critical for the global success of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Reason (R): India accounts for nearly one-sixth of the total world population.

Select the correct answer from the code given below:

1. A. Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
2. B. (A) is false, but (R) is true
3. C. (A) is true, but (R) is false
4. D. Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A) (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).

Key Points

• Assertion is true. India's success is critical to whether the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved globally.
• Reason is true. India accounts for roughly one-sixth of the world's population — it is now the most populous country, having overtaken China in 2023.
• (R) explains (A): because of its sheer demographic weight, global progress on almost any SDG indicator — poverty, hunger, health, education, sanitation, clean energy — cannot be achieved unless India achieves it. Hence option (d).

Additional Information

• The 2030 Agenda was adopted in 2015 with 17 Goals and 169 targets, replacing the Millennium Development Goals.
• India's progress is tracked by NITI Aayog's SDG India Index, first released in 2018, and by MoSPI's National Indicator Framework.
• India has already made outsized contributions to global figures on multidimensional poverty reduction, sanitation coverage (Swachh Bharat), financial inclusion (Jan Dhan) and renewable energy capacity.
• The core principle of the 2030 Agenda is "Leave No One Behind", which aligns with India's stated approach of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas".