By IANS,
Dallas, Texas: Noting that India is acting as a responsible stakeholder in the international system, New Delhi’s UN envoy has a made a strong case for a governance architecture that accommodates and acknowledges its contribution and potential.
“If the evolving multilateral world were to truly value India’s role and views, there need to be some fundamental developments taking place in the near future,” India’s Permanent UN Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said in a valedictory speech at the Naveen Jindal School of Management at University of Texas here Friday.
“By any objective criteria such as population, territorial size, GDP, economic potential, civilizational legacy, cultural diversity, political system and past and ongoing contributions to the activities of the UN – especially to UN peacekeeping operations – India is eminently suited for permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council,” he said.
Noting that India has affirmed its willingness and capacity to shoulder the responsibilities and obligations of permanent membership, Puri said reform of the Bretton Woods institutions too have to be undertaken immediately.
“We need a more representative international financial architecture, with an increase in the voice and representation of developing countries,” he said.
“The need of the hour is also the establishment of a just international monetary system that serves the interests of all countries. Reform is also badly needed at the World Bank,” Puri said.
Acknowledging that there are no objective formulae for calibrating India’s efforts, “and a lot will depend on factors over which India has virtually no control,” he assured that India will not be found wanting.
“The question is can the international community rise up to the challenge,” he asked voicing the hope for “a governance architecture that accommodates and acknowledges India’s contribution and potential.”
This requires both an attitudinal change as well as structural adjustments to international institutions to better reflect contemporary realities, Puri said.