Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for changes in the structure of the United Nations to address a deepening global crisis which has generated great uncertainty and profound change, an Indian newspaper reported on Saturday.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly, the Indian prime minister also made it clear that the fight against terrorism could not be selective and has to be fought on all fronts. “Till a few years ago, the world had taken for granted benefits of globalisation and global interdependence. But now, we are being called upon to cope with negative dimensions,” he said.
“Economic, social and political events in different parts of the world have coalesced together and their adverse impact is now being felt across countries and continents,” he said. There was a deficit in global governance which necessitated a stronger and more effective UN, he said.
“For this, the UN and its principal organs, the General Assembly and the Security Council, must be revitalised and reformed,” the Indian prime minister said, and underlined the need for early reform of the Security Council. He also said the development agenda must be brought firmly back to the centre-stage of the UN priorities.
In his speech, Manmohan provided a broad-brush account of the key drivers of global instability. He noted that the traditional engines of the global economy, such as the US, Europe and Japan, which are also the sources of global economic and financial stability, are faced with continued economic slowdown.
In addition, he said there was unprecedented social and political upheaval in West Asia and North Africa; food and energy prices are once again spiralling and introducing fresh instability; long-standing disputes like the Palestinian question remained unresolved; terrorism remained a major challenge; piracy threatening the Indian Ocean’s shipping lanes was escalating.
Finally, he said iniquitous growth, inadequate job and education opportunities and denial of basic human freedoms are leading to growing radicalisation of the youth, intolerance and extremism. The Indian premier devoted a substantial part of his speech to addressing the growing reliance on the use of force by western powers to engage with political conflicts, often legitimised as humanitarian interventions.
