There’s urgent need to reform UN bodies: PM - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday stressed upon the urgent need for reforming the United Nations including the Security Council. During his opening statement at the plenary session of the IBSA summit, Prime Minister Dr. Singh pointed out that the systems of global governance have not kept pace with the changing realities of the world and said: “There is an urgent need for reform of the United Nations including the Security Council by making it more democratic and representative.” He mentioned that the commencement of text-based negotiations in the United Nations in April is a positive development, and has been possible due to the efforts of the G-4 and South Africa . Mentioning about the way India , Brazil and South Africa cooperated with each other at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, Dr. Singh said: “Our three countries have closely consulted each other on climate change issues. The Copenhagen Accord was made possible due to the efforts of the BASIC countries. The Copenhagen Conference has decided by consensus to continue multilateral negotiations on two parallel tracks—the Bali Action Plan and the Kyoto Protocol.” “We look forward to the Cancun Conference to advance our goals under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” Dr. Singh stated. Highlighting the significance of collaborative activities within the IBSA framework, Dr. Singh said: “The collaborative activities within the IBSA framework hold immense promise for our people. The Joint Declaration and Agreements that we will be signing today will strengthen the enabling institutional framework for cooperation.” “The IBSA Forum supplements the excellent bilateral relations we have with each other. The significance of IBSA, however, transcends our bilateral ties. It symbolizes the desire of three great countries to overcome physical distances and strong moral force in today’s unsettled world,” he added. “ India looks forward to working closely with Brazil and South Africa to take our cooperation to even greater heights,” Dr. Singh further stated.