Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday called for bringing about the much-needed reforms in international political, financial and business institutions and democratisation of the UN Security Council to make them more representative of the ground realities. Speaking at the inaugural session of ‘Deccan Dialogue II – Economic Diplomacy in the Age of Disruptions’ here, he said India supports a rules-based multilateral order to tackle many common challenges such as climate change, technology divide, trade disputes, terrorism, connectivity and maritime threats. “But when we are faced with issues of unilateralism and protectionism, we need to be conscious of the fact that it was India and other developing countries which had earlier made a clarion call to reform the multilateral system as it exists so that developing countries have a greater voice in global governance. Consequently, it is not our case to go back to the status quo on multilateralism,” he added. He shared that what was needed was “reformed multilateralism to face the headwinds of protectionist tendencies.” “We need to bring about the much-needed reforms in international political, financial and business institutions so that they are more representative of the ground realities and adept to respond to new challenges,” Naidu said. Pointing out that India represented one-sixth of the global population, the Vice President called for enlarging and democratising the UN Security Council. Stating that the 21st century was being hailed as the Asian century and India has a key role to play in promoting peace, security and development in Asia and beyond, Naidu said enhanced regional connectivity, both physical and digital, can boost trade and play a pivotal role in bringing prosperity and development, the statement read. However, such initiatives to be successful and sustainable should be transparent, inclusive and respect the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, he added. In this context, he said that India believed in peaceful co-existence and was not a war monger. “We don’t want anybody to interfere in our internal affairs”, he asserted and added that India would give a befitting reply if anybody tried to interfere in its internal affairs. Naidu said that embracing new technologies was a must for developing countries to leap-frog into the 4th industrial revolution and to positively transform the lives of people. “For this to happen, we need to look at appropriate frameworks for international cooperation at the global and regional levels that can avoid the digital divide and ensure that the 4th industrial revolution is an inclusive one”, he said. He said that India was the world’s sixth largest economy, contributing over 15 per cent to the global economic growth, and was poised to contribute to the global economic strength for the next many decades. The Vice President said that India was placing special focus on improving connectivity infrastructure with neighboring countries both at the bilateral level and through regional forums like BIMSTEC and Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for expanding intra-regional trade. Asserting that India would support all efforts to keep oceans open, secure and free for the benefit of all, he said that India’s vision of Indo-Pacific was also rooted in advocacy of SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region.
