Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said drought is no longer an occasional event but a defining development challenge, as he addressed the Ministerial Dialogue on 'Accelerating Drought Resilience' at the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Tuesday.

Yadav called for a fundamental shift in the global approach to drought — from reactive relief to proactive, technology-enabled resilience. He said drought disrupts global water security, agricultural food systems, biodiversity, and economic stability.

He highlighted India's coordinated, multi-institutional approach that integrates early warning, mitigation, relief, and community resilience. Rainfall monitoring and satellite-based drought assessments trigger preparedness at the inter-ministerial and State levels, ensuring a dry spell does not escalate into a crisis, he said.