United Nations needs serious introspection, Modi tells UNGA

For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the United Nations? Modi asks UNGA

New Delhi: Following a longstanding demand to be made a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, India strongly pitched for a more decisive role within the United Nations, today.

“For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the United Nations? A country, which is the largest democracy of the world; A country with more than 18% of the world population; A country, which has hundreds of languages, hundreds of dialects, many sects, many ideologies;  A country, which was a leading global economy for centuries and also one which has seen hundreds of years of foreign rule,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address at the 75th UN General Assembly (UNGA) session today.

Modi told the UNGA that reform in the responses, in the processes, in the character of the United Nations was the need of the hour. “It is a fact that the faith and respect that the United Nations enjoys in India are unparalleled. But it is also true that the people of India have been waiting for a long time for the completion of the reforms of the United Nations. Today, people of India are concerned whether this reform-process will ever reach its logical conclusion?” he said.

Pointing out that from January next year, India will also fulfil its responsibility as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, he said the country will use the prestige and experience of the largest democracy for the benefit of the whole world. “Our path goes from human welfare to the welfare of the World. India will always speak in support of peace, security and prosperity. India will not hesitate in raising its voice against the enemies of humanity, human race and human values – terrorism, smuggling of illegal weapons, drugs and money-laundering,” he said, and asserted: “When we were strong, we did not trouble the world; when we were weak, we did not become a burden on the world.”

Modi asked that how long India would “have to wait” particularly when the changes happening there affect a large part of the world.

Stating that the ideals on which the United Nations was founded were quite similar to that of India and not different from its own fundamental philosophy, Modi recalled that the words Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (the whole world is a family), had often reverberated in the UNGA. “We treat the whole world as one family. It is part of our culture, character and thinking,” he affirmed.

In the United Nations, he said, India had always given priority to the welfare of the whole world. “India is the country, which sent its brave soldiers to about 50 peacekeeping missions. India is the country that has lost the maximum number of its brave soldiers in the course of establishing peace. Today every Indian, while seeing the contribution of India in the United Nations, aspires for India’s expanded role in the United Nations,” he pointed out and declared that even during these very difficult times of a raging pandemic, the pharma industry of India had sent essential medicines to more than 150 countries. “As the largest vaccine producing country of the world, I want to give one more assurance to the global community today, India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis. We are moving ahead with phase 3 clinical trials in India and in our neighbourhood. India will also help all the countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of Vaccines,” he said.

Recounting India’s contribution to the United Nations, the Indian Prime Minister also referred to the fact that it was India that initiated the ‘International Day of Non-Violence’ on October 2, and ‘International Day of Yoga’ on June 21. Similarly, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the International Solar Alliance were realities today due to efforts of India. “India has always thought about the interests of the whole humankind and not about its own vested interests. This philosophy has always been the driving force of India’s policies,” he asserted.

Congratulating the UNGA member countries on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, Modi said India was proud of the fact that it was one of the founding members of the United Nations. “On this historic occasion, I have come to this global platform to share the sentiments of 1.3 billion people of India,” he said.

He said that while the world of 1945 was significantly different from today’s world,  “in 21st century, the requirements and challenges of our present as well as our future are vastly different from those of the past,” he said.  According to him the international community today was faced with a very important question: Whether the character of the institution, constituted in the prevailing circumstances of 1945, is relevant even today? “If century changes and we don’t, then strength to bring changes becomes weak. If we assess the last 75 years of the United Nations, we see several achievements, but at the same time, there are also several instances that point to a serious need for introspection for the United Nations,” he stressed.

He said that though a third world war was successfully avoided, there was no denial of the fact that there had been several wars and many civil wars. Besides, several terrorist attacks shook the world and there had been bloodsheds. “The people who lost their lives in these wars and attacks were human beings, like you and me. Thousands of children, who would have otherwise enriched this world, left us prematurely. So many people lost their life savings and became homeless refugees. Were the efforts of the United Nations sufficient during those times or are these efforts adequate even today? The whole world is fighting the global pandemic of Corona for the last 8-9 months. Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response?,” he asked.

– globalbihari bureau