New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) India Tuesday called for a bigger role for developing countries in global financial institutions to tackle intertwined issues of democracy, sustainable development, terrorism and mass poverty at the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.
“In the international financial institutions, the developing countries should have a greater role in the decision-making processes so as to better address issues at the global level. The global partnership now needs to deliver,” President Pratibha Patil said while inaugurating the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference that brings together parliamentarians from the 53-nation Commonwealth comprising former colonies of the British empire.
“Your deliberations will be a powerful message about the fight against global poverty, a more equitable world, the sustainable development agenda and democratic values and path,” she said at the conference that is organised around the theme Delivering Democracy and Sustainable Development.
India is hosting the weeklong CPA after a gap of 16 years.
“In the 20th century, the Commonwealth symbolised the peaceful transition from colonialism to freedom. In the 21st century the Commonwealth will come to symbolise the hopes and aspirations of all humanity to live in an open society and an open economy,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a message read out by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.
Manmohan Singh could not attend the opening ceremony of the CPA as he is recuperating from a surgery he underwent recently.
“Given the unique composition of our membership – spanning continents, bridging the North-South divide and including all races and religions – we in the Commonwealth have the opportunity of creatively addressing the great challenges facing humankind today,” Manmohan Singh said.
“The most important of these challenges is that of poverty, and the social, economic, political and ecological consequences of poverty,” he added.
Patil also called for greater participation of women in politics and economic life to make development gender sensitive.
“Women constitute nearly half of the world population and their participation in elected bodies is fundamental for the effective functioning of a democracy,” she said.
The president also underscored the importance of building democratic institutions to achieve sustainable development and held the Indian democracy as an exemplar in this regard.
In India, the roots of democracy are firm and deep. “The path that we travelled since our independence has sometimes been difficult but we have always had unwavering faith in democracy,” she said.
“Parliamentary institutions all over the world are under pressure to meet the challenges of sustainable development, inclusive growth and good governance,” Vice President Hamid Ansari said.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who is also president of the CPA, stressed on the need for democracy “to adapt itself to the specific requirements of nations, big and small.
“The benchmarks of yesterday may need to be revised in context, and new goals and targets set, to make democracy more relevant to the people,” he said.