I offer my congratulations
to Mr. Treki on his assumption of the presidency of the
General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. My
delegation assures him of our fullest cooperation
during his stewardship of this Assembly, which
embodies the hopes, aspirations and shared vision of
peace and development of all the peoples of our planet.
When this session of the General Assembly ends
next year, the United Nations will have completed
65 years of existence. These past decades have seen the
world change in fundamental ways. Connectivity
defines our global condition, and the challenges that
we collectively face are truly global. The resolution of
these challenges, as we are aware, requires global
approaches and solutions. What may happen in one
part of the world has an impact on other regions. In the
context of these rapidly emerging changes and their
deep and diverse effects, we must consider more
deeply whether the United Nations and other global
governance structures are geared to effectively meeting
the challenges that confront us all.
It is of concern that, even after more than six
decades of existence, our international governance
structures are neither inclusive nor participatory.
Consequently, these structures and institutions have not
kept pace or evolved with the changed nature, intensity
and depth of contemporary global issues. The question
is therefore: Are these institutions able to address these
challenges adequately or satisfactorily? The reform and
restructuring of the global governance architecture are
the critical needs of our times, and the voices of the
developing world, including those of the small island
nations and Africa, are of principal and core relevance
if we are to have truly participatory and global
responses to global challenges.
09-52592 28
One need not look very far to identify these
challenges. The current economic and financial
turmoil, which did not begin in the developing world,
has affected developing countries the most. Growth has
slowed, with recession overtaking many countries. The
international response to this challenge must consist
not only of the measures that have been taken to
stimulate economies, but also, more importantly, of
finding ways to restructure the current international
governance system, which has failed to respond to the
virulence of the financial and economic crisis.
To gloss over this structural deficit of the current
global financial and economic architecture would
imperil the future of a vast majority of the peoples of
this world and presage greater difficulties in the future.
In the face of the current economic and financial crisis,
hard-won gains in alleviating poverty, hunger, illiteracy
and disease are being reversed. The achievements of
the Millennium Development Goals are seriously
threatened. Policies of protectionism under such
already adverse circumstances will exacerbate the
serious situation that many countries face.
It is imperative that the United Nations act in
concert to coherently overcome these challenges. India,
which is actively engaged in the Group of 20 and other
processes, has always stressed that developing
countries must receive priority in any global response
to the crisis. The United Nations Conference on the
Financial and Economic Crisis held in June was
opportune and provided a useful platform for
collectively seeking ways and means to respond to the
crisis. We now look forward to early implementation
during the course of this General Assembly of the
follow-up measures agreed on at the Conference.
At the centre stage of multilateralism and
international cooperation is the United Nations. This
Organization is a platform on which the world meets to
express views and undertake commitments on global
issues of mutual concern on an equal footing. It is no
wonder, then, that the Charter of the United Nations
begins with the inspiring words “We the peoples of the
United Nations”. Inclusiveness and collective action in
all aspects of the work of the Organization are at the
heart of its Charter. This vision must be our lodestar,
the guiding principle of all we undertake. India is
committed to working with Member States to make the
United Nations more relevant and attuned to
contemporary realities.
Reforming the United Nations is a matter of the
highest priority. Four years after the 2005 World
Summit, there has not been much progress even as
newer and more global crises and problems have
emerged. We should not let slowness of action weaken
the Organization in the face of such challenges. Rather,
we must work in concert to make it more robust and
capable of effective response.
Reform in the three essentials of the Charter —
peace and security, development and human rights —
requires our collective attention. The General
Assembly must be revitalized in full measure, and its
role as the anvil of global deliberation must be
strengthened. The Economic and Social Council must
become the fulcrum of development. It must be
accepted that the Security Council must be
strengthened and made more representative by
expanding its permanent and non-permanent
membership. Ongoing intergovernmental negotiations
during the past six months have unambiguously
established that an overwhelming majority of Member
States share the perspective that an expansion in both
categories of Security Council membership is needed.
Climate change is one of the most important
global challenges that we face today. Developing
countries bear a disproportionate share of its adverse
effects, even though they are not responsible for it.
Cognizant of the serious threat that climate change
poses, India is engaged in the ongoing negotiations
under the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), including at the upcoming
Copenhagen Conference. India will work for an
outcome that recognizes the development imperatives
of developing countries and is rooted in the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities and
respective capabilities.
We also must move away from concentrating on
mitigation only and ensure that there is a focus on
adaptation, which is critical for developing countries.
We are hosting a high-level global conference on
“Climate Change: Technology Development and
Transfer” on 22 and 23 October 2009, in cooperation
with the United Nations. The objective of the
conference is to help formulate a road map for
technology in the context of climate change mitigation
and adaptation to support the UNFCCC process.
Developing countries must be supported
financially, technologically and with capacity-building
29 09-52592
resources so that they can cope with the immense
challenges of adaptation. Special efforts are required to
develop programmes that address the critical needs of
small island States and of the most vulnerable
countries.
Poverty alleviation and livelihood security are
central imperatives for India. To that end, accelerated
economic growth and energy security are critical
drivers. In pursuing our development goals, India has
been successful in significantly reducing its energy
intensity. India will continue to pursue that path.
India is aware that the continuing volatility in the
fossil-fuel markets, together with the threat of climate
change, makes the development of all renewable and
clean energy sources — including nuclear energy —
crucial. In that context, international civil-nuclear
cooperation is important.
India has also taken several independent
initiatives to address the issue of climate change. We
have put in place a comprehensive policy and
legislative framework, as well as a national action plan
on climate change with eight separate national
missions. An unprecedented afforestation campaign has
been launched with a doubling of the forestry budget
this year to $1.3 billion, and this increase is going to be
sustained every year. The Prime Minister’s Council has
approved national missions for enhanced energy
efficiency and solar energy, setting ambitious goals.
We are supporting and facilitating major research to
assess various aspects related to climate change.
India attaches the highest priority to the goal of
nuclear disarmament and has an impeccable
non-proliferation record. We welcome the renewed
global debate on achieving a world free of nuclear
weapons. That corresponds with India’s long-standing
and consistent advocacy of nuclear disarmament as one
of the highest priorities of the international community.
We have put forward a number of proposals on nuclear
disarmament at the United Nations, including a
working paper in 2006 proposing elements to fashion a
new consensus on disarmament and non-proliferation.
Last year, at the sixty-third session of the General
Assembly, consistent with India’s long-standing
commitment as articulated in the Rajiv Gandhi Action
Plan in 1988, India reiterated its proposal that a nuclear
weapons convention be convened to ban the
production, development, stockpiling and use of
nuclear weapons and to provide for their complete
elimination within a time frame. The international
nuclear order cannot be discriminatory. Further, States
must fulfil the obligations that they have undertaken.
Once more, with feeling and with commitment, India
reiterates that proposal.
We will continue to engage with key countries to
intensify this debate in the hope that greater
international understanding will lend itself to a firm
commitment to action on nuclear disarmament. It was
in that spirit that we supported the adoption of a
programme of work, including on a fissile material cut-
off treaty (FMCT), at the Conference on Disarmament
in May this year. It is consistent with India’s position
to work with others at the Conference on Disarmament
towards the conclusion of a non-discriminatory,
multilaterally negotiated and internationally verifiable
FMCT, provided it corresponds with India’s national
security interests. We remain committed to a voluntary,
unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
India stands committed to the safeguarding of
international peace and security. Over the past five
decades, we have contributed more than
100,000 peacekeepers and have suffered a high number
of casualties during this time. Strengthening the
normative basis for peacekeeping operations and
giving major troop-contributing countries a greater say
will serve to make peacekeeping more effective.
Peace, security, stability and the welfare of our
neighbourhood are vital for India. There is a new
beginning in Sri Lanka; in Nepal, strengthening the
peace process is in our collective interest; and in
Afghanistan, the international community must remain
intensively engaged and support its development
efforts and the maintenance of peace and stability.
India is committed to establishing good-neighbourly
relations and resolving all outstanding issues with
Pakistan through peaceful dialogue.
The barbaric terrorist attack on the innocent
people of Mumbai on 26 November 2008 reminded us
of the daily and malignant menace that terrorism poses
to all countries. There can be no justification
whatsoever for such mindless terrorist acts. It is our
collective responsibility and duty to work together to
ensure that terrorists and the organizers, perpetrators
and supporters of such crimes are brought to justice.
In order to strengthen the international legal
framework of the fight against terrorism, India has
proposed a comprehensive convention on international
09-52592 30
terrorism. Discussions on the draft have gone on for far
too long. It is time that the convention be finally
adopted. India earnestly calls upon all countries to
make serious efforts in the next few weeks to arrive at
a consensus on the text.
In conclusion, I wish to reiterate India’s steadfast
commitment to the work of the United Nations.
Speaking to this Assembly 41 years ago, Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi said:
“The United Nations is the trustee of the
world’s peace and represents the hopes of
mankind. Its very existence gives a feeling of
assurance that the justice of true causes can be
brought fearlessly before the world. This
Assembly and the agencies of the United Nations
should, in all that they do, sustain those hopes
and promote the causes of peace.” (A/PV.1693,
para. 150)
The truth and conviction of these words are more
meaningful today than ever before.