With the recent spate of terror strikes weighing heavily on his mind, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said it was 'vital' to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and bring its perpetrators, financiers and sponsors to justice.
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The prime minister also made a strong pitch for expeditious conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and swift reforms of the UN, including changes in the composition of the Security Council to reflect contemporary realities of the 21st century.
Terrorism came under special focus by Dr Singh in his address to the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly.
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"It is vital that we strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and to bring the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism to justice.
"We should conclude expeditiously the Comprehensive Convention on International terrorism," Dr Singh said in his address which coincided with his 76th birthday.
He warned that growing assertion of separate identities and ethnic, cultural and religious intolerance threatens developmental efforts as also peace and stability.
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New Delhi's concerns over growing terror threats were highlighted by the prime minister against the backdrop of serial blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bangalore.
Seeking 'meaningful' reforms of the UN, Dr Singh regretted that 'little progress' had been made on the core elements of the reform agenda of the world body.
"The composition of the Security Council needs to change to reflect contemporary realities of the 21st century," he stressed.
"It is only a truly representative and revitalised United Nations that can become the effective focal point for the cooperative efforts of the world community. We need to expeditiously hold negotiations in this regard," he said.
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The prime minister also pressed for intensified efforts to re-energise the UN General Assembly.
"We need to make more determined efforts to revitalise the General Assembly to enable it to fulfil its rightful role as the principal deliberative organ of the UN."
During his address, Dr Singh touched upon issues ranging from the financial meltdown to the global food crisis and situation in India's neighbourhood.
Welcoming the return of democracy in Pakistan, Dr Singh, who had a meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari in United Nations on Thursday, said India is committed to resolving all outstanding issues with Islamabad, including the Kashmir problem, through peaceful dialogue.
In the context of terrorism, he said the situation in Afghanistan is a matter of deep concern. "The international community must pool all its resources to ensure the success of Afghanistan's reconstruction efforts and its emergence as a moderate pluralistic and a democratic society."
Noting that the UN is a living symbol of pluralism, which has weathered many storms, the prime minister said it is the vehicle through which a combined will and efforts to address global challenges must be articulated and implemented.
"Unless we rise to the task, we would bequeath to succeeding generations a world of diminishing prospects," he said.
Dr Singh said the opening of international civil nuclear cooperation with India will have a positive impact on global energy security and on efforts to combat climate change.
"This is vindication of India's impeccable record on non-proliferation and to our long-standing commitment to nuclear disarmament that is global, universal and non-discriminatory in nature," he said.
Dr Singh reiterated India's proposal for a Nuclear Weapons Convention prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons and providing for their complete elimination within a specified timeframe.
He said climate change can be overcome successfully only through a collaborative and cooperative global effort.
Dr Singh said the outcome of the multilateral negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate change must be fair and equitable and recognise the principle that each citizen of the world has equal entitlement to the global atmospheric space.
Image: Dr Singh addresses the 63rd United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Image
