Washington: World Bank president James Wolfensohn has commended India for the "very good progress" it has made in its gross domestic product (GDP) growth and wanted developed countries to increase their development aid to third world nations.

"In countries adjacent to India too there is evidence now of an improvement," he said at a press conference.

The process has been slow "but, nonetheless, I think that with education and health programmes, improved governance and increased trade, you can project that you will have a betterment of life in South Asia, and there is evidence that is coming through", he added.

Wolfensohn said while the media were focusing on the Iraq war, the World Bank cannot afford to forget the millennium development goals, in particular for education, health, water and sanitation, and the war on poverty.

"Poverty is an ever present issue and one we are seeking to address. We have had success in some parts of the world, particularly in East Asia and some parts of South Asia," he said.

He reminded developed nations of the goal they had set for themselves years ago, namely providing 0.7 per cent of their GDP for official development assistance.

"That would provide $ 160-170 billion a year. Against that goal, currently they are providing $ 52 billion for official development assistance while spending $ 350 billion for agricultural subsidies and $ 1,000 billion for defence," Wolfensohn said.

PTI