New Delhi : India on Tuesday made a strong pitch for early reforms of the United Nations Security Council before a gathering of Africa’s leaders, saying both India and and Africa can no longer be excluded from their “rightful place” in the world body.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who addressed the ministerial meeting of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) here, also referred to the scourge of terrorism faced by India and Africa and said the menace of non-state actors and cross-border terrorism has acquired a new dimension.
She said India was committed to a people-centric approach for cooperation with African countries which focuses on capacity building, human resource development and technical and financial support for mutually agreed priorities.
The minister said that unless there were more democratic global governance structures, a more equitable international security and development framework will continue to elude the world.
“Although Indians and Africans comprise nearly 2.5 billion people, our nations continue to be excluded from appropriate representation in the institutions of global governance,” she said.
“India and Africa can no longer be excluded from their rightful place of the permanent membership of the UN Security Council. How can we expect legitimacy from a governance structure that excludes the entire African continent and a country, which represents one-sixth of humanity?” “The 70th session of the UN General Assembly is an opportune moment to achieve concrete results on this long pending issue,” she added.
The minister said India welcomed the progress achieved during the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Sam Kutesa of Uganda towards commencing text-based negotiations.
“We look forward to working together in an active negotiating process to take this forward,” she said.
The minister suggested putting in place a regular review mechanism to evaluate implementation of the various cooperation initiatives between India and Africa at the bilateral, regional and pan-African levels.
“In the past, the solidarity between India and Africa was vital to defeat the forces of colonialism. Today, India and Africa are engaged in an equally vital struggle – the struggle to eliminate poverty and uplift our people,” Sushma Swaraj said.
