Emphasising that today’s economic, demographic and geopolitical realities are not those of 1945, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday said at the ongoing BRICS Summit in New Delhi that “the institutional structures must reflect it”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Saturday pitched for a greater role for developing countries in global decision-making. He said the Global South should move from being a “rule-taker” to “rule-shaper”.
Echoing that sentiment, Guterres said a day later, “Countries represented at this Summit speak to that changing reality. Over the past several years, Major emerging nations have called for an expansion of the UN Security Council. India has been at the forefront of this demand.”
He also weighed in on how the world is increasingly moving towards multipolarity, adding that it “helps bring balance and equity to global systems and institutions.
“But this requires reforming global multilateral institutions – including the UN Security Council and the Bretton Woods system – to reflect the world of today,” he said.
In the New Delhi declaration issued on Saturday, China and Russia have reiterated their support for India and Brazil to play a greater role in the United Nations, including its Security Council. According to the Declaration, the leaders of Brics countries reiterated their support for a “comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council”.
The UN Security Council has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. Each permanent member holds veto power over resolutions. This number has remained unchanged since the Council’s inception in 1945.
Guterres also spelt out an agenda for the world facing a geopolitical flux. “First – through financing… Multilateral Development Banks must also become bigger, better and bolder, with a new business model to mobilize massive private investment and expand concessional funding to developing countries,” he said.
Artificial Intelligence could compress decades of development into years, said the outgoing UN Secretary-General, adding, “But its power sits with a few companies, in a few countries. Unchecked, the AI divide will widen Every other divide – in income, in opportunity, in security, and in sovereignty.”
On climate justice, without mentioning the US, he said that “Developed countries must keep their promises: $300 billion a year”.
Critical minerals must be responsibly managed, adding value and jobs in producing countries and communities, he added.
Guterres also spoke about the need for peace. “From Gaza, to the broader crisis in the Middle East, to Ukraine, Sudan and beyond, our world needs peace. Across the board, states must respect their obligations under the UN Charter and international law – including the principles of sovereign equality… respect for territorial integrity and political independence of states… international navigational rights and freedoms… peaceful settlement of disputes … international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
As we move irreversibly to a multipolar world, all countries must work to strengthen and safeguard a multilateral system that delivers for all with the United Nations at its centre, he noted.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
