The Prime Minister today strongly pitched for global action against international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Addressing the NAM Summit in Tehran today, Dr.Singh asked the Non-Aligned Movement to take a lead in this direction. He also called upon them to take a stand based on universally accepted principles on Syria.
Voicing India's opposition to external intervention in the war-torn country, Dr. Singh made a pointed reference to the situation in West Asian region, particularly Syria and called for an inclusive resolution of the crises. Underlining the need for new instruments of global governance to confront cross cutting and trans-national challenges through coordinated global actions, Dr. Singh stressed the need to deal with the menace of maritime piracy, growing threat the cyber security and challenge of pursuing ecologically sustainable development.
He called for reforms in the UN Security Council and global financial institutions. Dr Singh said NAM should take the lead in building global governance structures that are representative, credible and effective. The Prime Minister said today’s structures for global governance remain driven by the power equations of the past and have proved inadequate in dealing with the economic and political crises.
He said the Non-Aligned Movement should renew its pledge to support the Palestinian cause. Prime Minister called for an early resolution of the issue. Dr. Singh said developing countries need to have a greater say on matters of global trade, finance and investment. The Prime minister said excessive speculation, structural bottlenecks and lack of coordination are fuelling food inflation at the global level.
Dr Singh said NAM should push for effective food policy coordination and cooperation at the global level in areas such as agricultural productivity, weather forecasting and research and development. Dr Singh said India would be happy to contribute to a NAM initiative on skill development, particularly focused on the knowledge economy.
He urged upon NAM members to work with India in areas of priority to Africa. Prime Minister expressed hope that deliberations will be helpful in restoring this historic Movement to its rightful place on the international stage.
Dr. Singh called for using financial and intellectual resources to develop renewable energy technologies that get less attention in the developed world. He said adoption of these technologies will enable developing countries to contribute to the preservation of environment.
