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United Nations: Making the General Assembly more effective cannot be divorced from the wider context of the reform of the UN, including the Security Council, according to India.<\/p>\n
\u201cRevitalisation of the General Assembly must also be seen in the wider context of the overall reform of the United Nations,\u201d Pratik Mathur, a minister at India\u2019s UN mission said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a meeting of the ad hoc working group on revitalising the Assembly, he said, \u201cIt is our firm belief that the urgent and comprehensive UN reform, including of the Security Council, is imperative to make it reflective of current geopolitical realities and enhance its capability to meet increasingly complex challenges of our time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us strive to make this reform of global governance architecture that is fit for purpose for the 21st century a reality in the Pact of the Future that we are currently negotiating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has convened a \u2018Summit of the Future\u2019 in September where the world leaders are to adopt the \u2018Pact of the Future\u2019 to make the world organisation more effective in meeting global challenges.<\/p>\n
The primacy of the Assembly, which is the closest to a \u201cglobal parliament\u201d, must be recognised in any efforts to revitalise it, Mathur said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndia has always been of the view that the General Assembly can be revitalised only when its position as the primary deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations is respected in letter and in spirit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe essence of the General Assembly is in its intergovernmental nature,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is the closest thing to a global parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that any changes to its working methods should be to enhance its role \u201cas the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN\u2019s success rests on the effectiveness of the Assembly as the chief deliberative and policy-making body as envisaged in the UN Charter,\u201d Mathur said.<\/p>\n
He drew attention to the annual general debate at which the heads of state and government of most of the 193 members participate in September, but increasingly finds itself competing with other high-level events scheduled at the same time.<\/p>\n
India \u201cis of the view that for the revitalisation of the General Assembly, the sanctity of the annual general debate and its associated elements must be restored\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
The meeting \u201chas a special place in the annual agenda of the UN and we should not let it be equated with various high-level events which do not enjoy the participation of all member states\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n
(IANS)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n