Thank you, Mr. President.
At the outset, let me convey our best wishes to Your Excellency on your
election as the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I also
thank the Vietnamese delegation for organizing this high-level Open
Debate on enhancing cooperation between the UN and regional and
sub-regional organizations. Excellency, your chairing of today’s debate
has brought a special focus to this very important issue.
2. Regional and sub-regional organizations have demonstrated their
important role in the maintenance of international peace and security.
With their deep knowledge of local factors and complexities, regional
and sub-regional organizations are uniquely placed to contribute to
finding better solutions to conflicts in their respective regions. We,
therefore, support engagement between the UN and regional and
sub-regional organizations, in line with the UN Charter.
Mr. President
3. The world order that we built following the Second World War is
under serious stress. The nature of threats faced by member states when
the United Nations was founded 75 years ago has also changed.
Contemporary security challenges are not limited to territorial or
political disputes, but transcend physical or political boundaries. In
today’s globalized world, terrorism, radicalization, drug trafficking
and organised crime have a growing salience. The security implications
of new technologies cannot be disregarded.
4. To face such diverse challenges, we need coordinated and concerted
action across borders. We think that enhanced cooperation between the
UN and regional and sub-regional organizations will be an important
factor in successfully addressing such contemporary challenges and
conflicts. In this context, a rational evaluation of the cooperation
between the UN and regional and sub-organizations during the last 75
years will provide a good basis for our future engagements.
5. Mr. President, India has traditionally maintained close and friendly
cooperation with regional organizations. India’s relationship with the
ASEAN is a key pillar of its foreign policy and the foundation of its
Act East Policy. India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific as a free, open and
inclusive region, underpinned by international law and a rules based
order, is premised on ASEAN centrality and the common pursuit of
progress and prosperity.
6. India remains committed to further building on the momentum of
regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework and make that
organization stronger, vibrant, and more effective and result oriented.
Our relationship with Africa spans centuries, and we have had close
cooperation with the African Union, especially for development
partnership initiatives. In addition to our large peacekeeping presence
in Africa, India has been deeply committed to peacebuilding and
sustaining peace through large UN peace keeping operations in Africa.
7. Let me conclude, by reiterating our strong support for cooperation
between the UN and regional organizations. We believe that this
partnership is inevitable for responding collectively, coherently, and
decisively to effectively prevent, manage and resolve violent conflicts
and promote peace and development.
I thank you Mr. President.
