India, 2011

Allow me at the outset to

congratulate Mr. Al-Nasser on his election to the

presidency of the General Assembly. I wish to assure

him of India’s full cooperation in the conduct of the

sixty-sixth session of the Assembly.

It is also my great pleasure to welcome in our

midst the new State of South Sudan.

We meet during this session of the General

Assembly at a time of great uncertainty and profound

change. Until a few years ago, the world had taken for

granted the benefits of globalization and global

interdependence. Today we are being called upon to

cope with the negative dimensions of those very

phenomena. Economic, social and political events in

different parts of the world have coalesced, and their

adverse impact is now being felt across countries and

continents.

The world economy is in trouble. The shoots of

recovery which were visible after the economic and

financial crisis of 2008 have yet to blossom. In many

respects, the crisis has deepened even further.

The traditional engines of the global economy,

including the United States, Europe and Japan, which

are also the sources of global economic and financial

stability, are today faced with continued economic

slowdown. Recessionary trends in those countries are

affecting confidence in world financial and capital

markets. These developments are bound to have a

negative impact on developing countries, which also

have to bear the additional burden of inflationary

pressures.

There has been unprecedented social and political

upheaval in West Asia, the Gulf and North Africa. The

peoples of those regions are demanding the right to

shape their own future. Energy and food prices are

once again spiralling and introducing fresh instability,

especially for developing countries.

The Palestinian question remains unresolved and

a source of great instability and violence. India is

steadfast in its support for the Palestinian people’s

struggle for a sovereign, independent, viable and united

State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital,

living within secure and recognizable borders side by

side and at peace with Israel. We look forward to

welcoming Palestine as an equal Member of the United

Nations.

Terrorism continues to rear its ugly head and take

a grievous toll of innocent lives. New threats to

international security have emerged. At a time when

the world needs more international commerce, the sea

lanes of communication across the Indian Ocean are

under siege. Acts of piracy are being carried out with

impunity from lands that are beyond the writ of any

functioning State or international accountability.

Iniquitous growth, inadequate job and education

opportunities and the denial of basic human freedoms

are leading to a growing radicalization of the youth,

intolerance and extremism.

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We have no choice but to meet these challenges

head-on. We will succeed if we adopt a cooperative

rather than a confrontational approach. We will

succeed if we embrace once again the principles on

which the United Nations was founded:

internationalism and multilateralism. More importantly,

we will succeed if our efforts have legitimacy and are

pursued not just within the framework of the law but

also in the spirit of the law.

The observance of the rule of law is as important

in international affairs as it is within countries.

Societies cannot be reordered from outside through

military force. People in all countries have the right to

choose their own destiny and decide their own future.

The international community has a role to play in

assisting in the processes of transition and institution-

building, but the idea that prescriptions should be

imposed from outside is fraught with danger.

Action taken under the authority of the United

Nations must respect the unity, territorial integrity,

sovereignty and independence of individual States.

Correspondingly, governments are duty-bound to their

citizens to create conditions that enable them to freely

determine their pathways to development. This is the

essence of democracy and fundamental human

freedoms.

There are many other things that we can do. We

must address the issue of the deficit in global

governance. We need a stronger and more effective

United Nations. We need a United Nations that is

sensitive to the aspirations of everyone, rich or poor,

big or small. For this, the United Nations and its

principal organs, the General Assembly and the

Security Council, must be revitalized and reformed.

The reform and expansion of the Security

Council are essential if it is to reflect contemporary

reality. Such an outcome will enhance the Council’s

credibility and effectiveness in dealing with global

issues. Early reform of the Security Council must be

pursued with renewed vigour and urgently enacted.

We should not allow the global economic

slowdown to become a pretext for building walls

around ourselves through protectionism or erecting

barriers to the movement of people, services and

capital. Effective ways and means must be deployed to

promote the coordination of the macroeconomic

policies of the major economies. The reform of the

governance systems of international financial

institutions should be pursued with speed and

efficiency.

The development agenda must be brought firmly

back to centre stage in United Nations priorities. We

need a much more determined effort to ensure

balanced, inclusive and sustainable development for

the benefit of vast sections of humanity. Each of us can

contribute to this task, but we can achieve far more if

we act in partnership.

In the past few decades, India has lifted tens of

millions of its people out of abject poverty. We are in a

position to feed our population better, educate them

better and widen their economic choices. However, we

still have a very long way to go.

We wish to accelerate the pace of India’s

transformation in partnership with the international

community. A fast-growing India can expand the

boundaries of the global economy. A democratic, plural

and secular India can contribute to tolerance and

peaceful coexistence among nations.

Developing countries need investment,

technology and market access for their products. They

need assistance in the areas of education, health,

women’s empowerment and agriculture. During the

recently held fourth United Nations Conference on the

Least Developed Countries Conference in Istanbul in

May 2011, India strengthened its partnership with the

least developed countries through significantly

enhanced lines of credit and assistance in capacity-

building.

We should pay particular attention to Africa.

Africa’s richest resources are not its minerals but its

people. We must empower them and open the doors for

them to human advances through technology, education

and skills development.

At the second India-Africa Forum Summit in

Addis Ababa earlier this year, India offered lines of

credit worth $5 billion and an additional $700 million

in grant assistance for human resource development,

technology transfer and building new institutions.

The United Nations should lead efforts in the area

of food security. We need more cooperation in

agricultural technologies, water conservation, land

usage and productivity, and stability in commodity

prices.

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Developing countries need a peaceful external

environment in which to grow. The fight against

terrorism must be unrelenting. There cannot be

selective approaches in dealing with terrorist groups or

the infrastructure of terrorism. Terrorism has to be

fought across all fronts. In South Asia there are

encouraging signs of cooperation in the area of

security, as exemplified in India’s cooperation with

Bangladesh. Such cooperation is adding to the security

of both our countries.

However, the recent assassination of

Mr. Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul is a chilling

reminder of the designs of the enemies of peace in

Afghanistan. It is essential that the process of nation-

building and reconciliation in that country succeed.

This is vital for ensuring peace and security in the

region. India will play its part in helping the people of

Afghanistan build a better future for themselves, just as

we are doing in other countries in South Asia. We will

do so because prosperity and stability in our region are

indivisible.

We wish to see an open, inclusive and transparent

architecture of regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific

region and peaceful settlement of disputes. I call upon

the United Nations to evolve a comprehensive and

effective response to the problem of piracy in the Red

Sea and off the coast of Somalia. As a littoral State of

the Indian Ocean, India is ready to work with other

countries in that regard. Simultaneously, the

international community should continue with efforts

to restore stability in Somalia. We have joined

international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance

to the countries afflicted with severe famine and

drought in the Horn of Africa, specifically Somalia,

Kenya and Djibouti.

Nuclear proliferation continues to be a threat to

international security. The action plan put forward by

former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for a nuclear-

weapon-free and non-violent world provides, even

today, a concrete road map for achieving nuclear

disarmament in a time-bound, universal,

non-discriminatory, phased and verifiable manner. I

commend the United Nations for its efforts in focusing

world attention on nuclear safety. Our plans for

utilizing nuclear power to meet our energy needs hinge

on full satisfaction of our concerns about the safety of

nuclear energy. We have undertaken a thorough review

of the safety of our nuclear plants.

The perspectives I have outlined to the Assembly

are those that have guided our actions in the Security

Council since India became a non-permanent member

of the Council in January. There are still millions of

people living in poverty across the world. Their plight

has worsened, through no fault of theirs, due to the

global economic and financial crisis of recent years.

The actions of Governments around the world are

therefore under close scrutiny. It is vitally important

that through our actions and deeds we renew the

people’s faith in the Charter and objectives of the

United Nations. I am confident that we can do this

through acts of statesmanship, foresight and collective

effort. India stands ready to play its part in this noble

endeavour.