The challenges confronting the world due to the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic have brought to the fore the inadequacies of the global governance structures, India’s former UN envoy Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin has said.
His statement came as the governments across the world struggle to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak which has infected over 3.5 million people and killed nearly 250,000, besides triggering a global economic slowdown due to the lockdowns put in place to contain the contagion.
As the world grapples with the health and humanitarian crisis unleashed by the coronavirus, Syed Akbaruddin, who retired on April 30 from the post of India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told PTI the challenges of confronting the global pandemic have brought to the fore the inadequacies of global governance structures.
“Retooling to make them fit for the purpose for our times will be required, once the immediate concerns of addressing the multiple crises are addressed. Otherwise, the global governance crisis impedes the arrival of the new normal.
“Even while facing unprecedented challenges on the domestic front, India has shown the ability to work cooperatively globally with a range of international partners at the regional, plurilateral and multilateral levels in the delivery of global public goods to address the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
In his address to the UNGA in September 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that “the face of the world is changing today. Modern technology in the 21st Century is bringing about sweeping changes in social life, personal life, economy, security, connectivity, and international relations.
“In such a situation, a fragmented world is in the interest of no one. Neither do we have the option to confine ourselves within our boundaries”.
PM Modi underscored that in this new era, “we will have to give a new direction to multilateralism and to the United Nations”.
Meanwhile, Syed Akbaruddin said that the current disruption of the normal work of the UN is not expected to impede the election of India to a non-permanent seat as the sole candidate from the Asia-Pacific region.
The election for five non-permanent members of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are scheduled for June 17 but in-person and large meetings at the world body have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic until at least the end of next month.
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