Press
Conference
WE
HAVE FASHION A GLOBAL CONSENSUS
This
is the text of the speech of the Prime Minister,
Dr. Manmohan Singh, at the United Nations General Assembly
on 23 September
"Mr.
President,
Allow
me to congratulate you on your election as the President
of the 59th Session. May I assure you of India's
full support in ensuring it's success.
As
we gather here in the 60th year of the United
Nations - we might perhaps pause to reflect on the fate
of the idea and ideals of the international community that
animated its creation.
The
post-war generation had already become aware that the world
which had emerged from the ashes of global war could no
longer be a peaceful world unless the underlying forces
of conflict were addressed by the entire community of nations
as a collectivity. Nations united together to make the world
a safer and more peaceful place, in which a free people
could together pursue a destiny of shared prosperity.
Mr.
President, The impulse behind the creation of global institutions
nearly sixty years ago has become an even more pressing
reality today. If we look around us, the single most defining
characteristic of our contemporary world is the global,
transnational character of the challenges we confront, whether
these are in the realm of international security or development.
|
'Rajivji
was an Internationalist'
NEW
DELHI: The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi,
on Oct 7 paid tributes to her late husband and former
Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, saying that his initiative
in information technology and science paved the way
for the country's growth in the global knowledge economy.
In
her remarks at a lecture delivered by the German Chancellor,
Shri Gerhard Schroeder, at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation,
she said Rajiv Gandhi was a "committed internationalist,"
who saw peace and development as mutually supportive
in an interdependent world.
"The
better India and the more equitable world for which
he struggled are yet to be realised. The context may
have changed but his ideals remain relevant," Smt.
Gandhi said.
"He
was the youngest Prime Minister India ever had. His
leadership was marked by energy and zest, open-mindedness,
a determination to persist in the face of adversity,
an unshakeable faith in the Indian people É
in the short space of his Premiership, he left his
mark on our nation and its outlook," she said.
|
Virtually
every major issue that we face as nation states, has both
a domestic as well as a transnational dimension. It is becoming
increasingly apparent that unless we fashion a global response,
based on consensus, to these challenges, we would not succeed
in creating a world that manifests the ideals of the United
Nations.
Price
of Terrorism
Terrorism
is one such challenge for which many of us have paid an
unacceptable price. We shall not forget that three years
ago, it was this city that witnessed the single most horrendous
terrorist act in human history. About three weeks ago, the
world saw another brutal act of terror, in Russia, which
took the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians, including
young children. Terrorism exploits the technologies spawned
by globalization, recruits its foot soldiers on ideologies
of bigotry and hatred, and directly targets democracies.
And yet it is a sad reality that international networks
of terror appear to cooperate more effectively among themselves
than the democratic nations that they target. We speak about
cooperation, but seem hesitant to commit ourselves to a
global offensive to root out terrorism, with the pooling
of resources, exchange of information, sharing a intelligence,
and the unambiguous unity of purpose required. This must
change. We do have a global coalition against terrorism.
We must now give it substance and credibility, avoiding
selective approaches and political expediency.
Let
us turn to other challenges we face today, such as the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. There is increasing reliance
on restrictive regimes and the use of punitive action to
confront this threat to international peace and security.
While India is opposed to proliferation and has an impeccable
record in this respect, we believe that it is only a global
consensus of willing nations that would ultimately prove
to be more effective in this regard.
The
Chemical Weapons Convention is a good model to follow in
respect of other weapons of mass destruction including nuclear
weapons. It is through representative institutions rather
than exclusive clubs of privileged countries that we can
address global threats posed by proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction and their means of delivery. As far
back as in 1988 Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had outlined
a series of specific steps in an Action Plan whose central
proposition remains valid - that progressive steps towards
the elimination of weapons of mass destruction must be based
on a balance of obligations between those who possess such
weapons and those who do not. It is quite evident today
that a global discourse is required for evolving a more
cooperative and consensual international security order.
India believes that this consensus must differentiate between
states whose actions strengthen non-proliferation and those
that weaken its objectives.
Central
Theme
Let
me turn to the central theme for the vast majority of U.N.
members; the challenge of development and the eradication
of poverty. Globalization has undoubtedly brought enhanced
effectiveness and efficiency in economies, integrated market
places, higher standards of living and a revolution in global
connectivity. But there is also the phenomenon of widening
economic disparities, both within and among countries. Connectivity
also means that people are painfully aware in real time
of how far and how fast they are falling behind in their
relative conditions of living.
Development
today is no longer a function of domestic resources and
national policies alone. It is a process that is integrally
linked to the international economic environment. The international
community must find ways to contracting the circles of exclusion.
We need to find innovative sources of financing and access
to technologies that are necessary to assist those who are
on the margins of globalization. Just as prosperity cannot
be sustained by being walled in, poverty cannot be banished
to some invisible periphery. Development must return to
the center of global discourse. We must evolve equitable
and rule-based regimes to manage global trade, investment
flows and movement of services. Four years ago, at our millennium
Summit, we adopted ambitious global development goals, but
have already fallen behind in their implementation.
New
Technologies
While
globalization has generated new challenges, it has also
given us new technologies to deal with these challenges.
The world faces looming pandemics such as HIV/AIDS, but
it today possesses remedies and skills that can rid the
world of this scourge. We face problems of environmental
degradation in many parts of our planet, but we also have
available safe and environment-friendly technologies. Many
countries are beset by problems of hunger and malnutrition,
but we possess modern techniques of food production and
processing to make a hunger-free world a credible and realistic
goal.
Lack
of Global Concert
Although
our excessive dependence on hydrocarbons raises concerns
about the long-term availability of energy, technology has
made available environmentally sound alternatives. What
we lack is a global concert and a mobilization of the international
community to overcome these challenges.
Mr.
President, The experience of the decades since the inception
of the United Nations demonstrates the great significance
of democracy as an instrument for achieving both peace and
prosperity. While it is gratifying that the frontiers of
democracy have expanded dramatically in the last decade
and a half, they still exclude significant numbers. Only
a few months ago, in our 14th General Elections,
India went through the largest exercise of popular will
in the world. I can therefore assert with confidence the
importance of national articulations in global forums truly
reflecting the democratically expressed will of their people.
We choose to overlook the absence of democracy in too many
cases for reasons of political expediency.
Democracy's
representative nature validates the commitments we take
on as countries; it should also determine the manner in
which the architecture of international institutions evolves.
For what is required for the International community to
successfully deal with global challenges, whether they be
security challenges, economic challenges or challenges in
the sphere of the environment are the existence of international
institutions and a culture of genuine multilateralism.
The
U.N. and its specialized agencies are the only instruments
available for responding effectively to the challenges we
face. But what is missing is our sustained commitment to
democratize the functioning of the United Nations. It is
common knowledge that the U.N. is often unable to exert
an effective influence on global economic and political
issues of critical importance. This is due to its "democracy
deficit", which prevents effective multilateralism, a multilateralism
that is based on a democratically-evolved global consensus.
Reform and restructuring of the U.N. system can alone provide
a crucial link in an expanding chain of efforts to refashion
international structures, imbuing them with a greater degree
of participatory decision-making, representative of contemporary
realities.
Millennium
Declaration
Our
Millennium Declaration had recognized the urgency of the
reform of the U.N. Security Council. An overwhelming majority
of the world's population cannot be excluded from an institution
that legislates on an increasing number of issues, with
an ever-widening impact. The expansion of the Security Council,
in the category of both permanent and non-permanent members,
and the inclusion of countries like India as permanent members,
would be a first step in the process of making the U.N.
a truly representative body.
Mr.
President, I would like to make brief references to two
countries with which India has had historically friendly
ties and whose early return to political normalcy is the
focus of the world's attention.
The
situation in Iraq causes great concern. The U.N. has a central
role to play in erasing the discord of the recent past and
in ensuring that the Iraqi people can soon exercise effective
sovereignty, preserving the country's unity and territorial
integrity.
An
end to the suffering of the Iraqi people and recognition
of their aspirations should be the guiding objectives. Consistent
with our long-standing ties of friendship with the Iraqi
people, India will contribute to Iraq's humanitarian and
economic reconstruction.
Afghanistan
In
the past three years, the international community has assisted
Afghanistan in pulling back from the brink of chaos and
chronic instability. We sincerely hope that the forthcoming
Presidential elections and the subsequent Parliamentary
elections will allow the Afghan people to express their
will, free from interference and intimidation. India's assistance
to Afghanistan's reconstruction will continue.
Relations
between India and Pakistan have been a matter of attention
for the international community. It is known that since
January this year India and Pakistan have initiated a composite
dialogue to resolve all issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.
I reaffirm our determination to carry forward this dialogue
to a purposeful and mutually acceptable conclusion.
In
closing, Mr. President, I would like to reaffirm India's
commitment to the principles that have brought us together
in this Organisation.
New
Challenges
These
principles retain their relevance and validity even while
the global economy and the international political order
pose new and very different challenges. All of us have to
grow out of the comfort of the predictable, discard constraining
habits of thought and move forward with confidence to meet
the demands of the present and the future. Each of us has
to be prepared to take on new obligations and larger responsibilities
relevant to our times.
I
deem it a privilege to say unhesitatingly that India is
conscious of the responsibilities that lie ahead. I speak
of an India on the move, on the cutting edge of economic,
technological and developmental transformations. This is
an India endowed with outstanding human resources, and we
are putting in place policies which will respond to emerging
and critical tasks. We have the capabilities and capacity
to take these on, and to participate in the structuring
of a just and dynamic world order. We are confident that
in an inextricably interdependent world, our commitment
to the common good, which this organisation embodies, will
be resolute.
In
this, we are inspired by the vision of internationalism
bequeathed to us by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru - of a world order whose pillars are peace, harmony,
cooperation and development. This vision needs to re-animate
the collective wisdom of the world community for a new partnership
to meet the unprecedented challenges we face.
