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Friday, Jul 02, 2004

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Security Council does not reflect realities of the world: Shivraj Patil

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 1. Developing countries must find a place in the United Nations Security Council's decision-making structures, the Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, said in an address to an international conference on "U.N. and the New Threats" today.

Standing in for the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, who is away in Jakarta, Mr. Patil said that since 1945, the U.N. membership had increased four-fold and ways had to be found by which the views of nations represented in the General Assembly were "listened to and respected."

"In the peace and security architecture of the U.N., the composition of the Security Council has remained largely static over the decades. Its composition no longer reflects the true character or the realities of the world today," he said.

His audience included several members of a high-level panel set up by the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in November 2003 to provide an assessment of the challenges that the world community faces.

"Developing countries are hardly represented [in the Security Council] and yet they are often the object of the Council's actions. The Council [particularly, the permanent members] is largely dominated by the industrialised countries.

"An expansion of the Council is highly desirable in today's conditions and I suggest it should occupy a high priority in our concerns," Mr. Patil said.

The Home Minister pointed out that this was the first major international conference since the Manmohan Singh Government assumed office. "I consider it entirely appropriate that this should be on the United Nations and the critical choices it faces today."

India, he said, strongly supported a strengthened and revitalised U.N. with its various organs functioning within their mandates in accordance with the U.N. Charter.

Mr. Patil pointed out that four years ago, at the Millennium Summit at the United Nations, the world had come out with a resounding declaration reaffirming its commitment to the principles of the U.N. Charter.

"The most vulnerable among us were to receive greater attention from the international community. Regrettably, the promises we made to ourselves have largely gone unfulfilled," he said.

Mr. Patil said the dastardly terrorist attacks in different parts of the world had been universally acknowledged as a major global threat. "No region and followers of no religion are immune from the long arm of the terrorist."

"As a long-standing victim of terrorism, India had for long advocated a higher priority in the global agenda for effective international cooperation to counter this threat. The Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, tabled by India [in the U.N.], is an important step in this direction. We believe that the development of approaches and solutions to tackle terrorism has to cater to regional and national specificity," Mr. Patil added.

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