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Put your economic house in order, PM tells rich nations

UNITED NATIONS: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that “the opening of international civil nuclear cooperation with India” would have a positive impact on global security.

Without specifically mentioning the recent NSG waiver for India, Dr. Singh claimed it as a “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.”

Dr. Singh said that India’s recent search for nuclear energy was consistent with “the blueprint spelt out by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in this very august assembly twenty years ago.”

He reiterated India’s proposal for a “Nuclear Weapons Convention” that could work for prohibition of development, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons.

However, the thrust of the Prime Minister’s address to the gathering of the global leaders was a demand that the developed countries put their economic house in order as it was hurting the emerging economies.

He blamed the current crisis on absence of “credible systemic regulation” in advanced economies. He demanded a “new international initiative to bring about structural reform” in world’s financial system, based on multilateral consultations and surveillance. The reform must be “designed in as inclusive a manner as possible.”

Dr. Singh was also critical of the western countries’ role on the agricultural front. He regretted the “distortionary agricultural subsidies in the developed world.” He specifically pointed out that the practice of “diversion of cultivable land for producing bio-fuels is compounding the problem.”

He regretted the solemn commitments made for transfer of financial resources from the developed to the developing world “have remained largely unfulfilled.” He called for putting in place “a global cooperative network of institutions of developed and developing countries” for directing research for clean energy technologies.

Dr. Singh expressed India’s concern over the situation in Afghanistan, and called for the international community to pool all its resources “to ensure the success of Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts and its emergence as a moderate, pluralistic and democratic society.”

He also exhorted the global community to raise its voice against the growing trend of religious intolerance. “It is vital that we strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism and to bring the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism to justice.” He called for an expeditious conclusion of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

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