For the sake of humanity

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India at the opening of the 80^th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and delivered India’s statement during its High-Level Segment (HLS) on September 27. This writer had written about US President Donald Trump’s extraordinary address on September 23 at the HLS in these columns. It is only appropriate that he turns his attention to the Indian statement too. This is because it is formally considered as an authoritative expression of a country’s views on the current issues confronting the world.

The United Nations is, despite its short comings, the pre-eminent organization of the world’s nation-states. Its purpose is to give expression to humanity’s aspiration for peace, equity and prosperity. Hence, the significance of the national statements though they not only address the international community but also a country’s domestic audience. Through these statements the sentiments of big and small countries can be discerned as well as their leaders’ messaging to their own peoples. Hence, if international relations’ academics as well as foreign ministries would do well to closely study them.

Jaishankar’s statement was well crafted. It contained India’s views on the performance of the United Nations over the decades and the principal issues that currently confront the organization. Naturally in all this Jaishankar spoke from the Indian perspective. He rightly recalled that over this period, its membership had ‘quadrupled’ and the process of increased membership had begun in the period of decolonization. In this context he said “Forces unleashed by history since the founding of the UN propelled this body forward. As decolonization advanced, the world began to return to its natural diversity.

The membership of the United Nations quadrupled and the organization’s role and remit grew significantly”. It may have been preferable if Jaishankar would have recalled that the founding of the UN came after the Second World War and that the consequences of that global conflict put a stamp on it which continues to this day. He could have also recalled India’s role in the decolonisation process. Even after the passage of six decades that role has not been forgotten. Nor has India’s commitment to the dignity of all persons ever been overlooked. This was most witnessed in its stand against apartheid in South Africa.

While noting “ the UN became a natural platform to debate key global issues”, Jaishankar asked the question “We must ask ourselves today: how has the UN lived up to expectations”. He responded accurately “just look at the state of the world. There are two significant conflicts underway – one in Ukraine, and the other in the Middle East/West Asia. Innumerable other hotspots don’t even make the news. The slow progress of the SDG Agenda 2030 presents a sorry picture. On climate change, the reality is of recirculated commitments and creative accounting. If climate action itself is questioned, what hope is there for climate justice? When a ‘once in a century’ pandemic hits us, we saw open discrimination in access to vaccines and to travel. Energy and food security have been the first casualties of conflict and disruption, especially since 2022. Better-off societies insulated themselves by having the first call.

The resource-stressed ones scrambled to survive, only to hear sanctimonious lectures thereafter. When it came to trade, non-market practices gamed rules and regimes. The resulting concentration exposed the world to leveraging. On top of that, we now see tariff volatility and uncertain market access. As a result, de-risking is a growing compulsion; whether from limited sources of supply or over-dependence on a particular market. Economic concerns have other dimensions as well. Heightened technology control is one. The grip on supply chains and critical minerals is another. The shaping of connectivity is no less sensitive. Protection of key sea lanes has become a challenge. Restricting the evolution of a global workplace is an issue”.

This writer has extensively quoted Jaishankar’s words because they effectively describe the present crises that confront humanity. As is usual, in all aspects of human affairs, the powerful and the affluent have the means to bear the adverse impact of these difficulties. The poor suffer. Hence, it is the poor countries of the developing world—in today’s vocabulary Global South-- who bear the brunt of a world out of joint. The advanced countries continue to turn their back on their responsibilities even where their activities have contributed to the plight of the planet such as on climate change.

Jaishankar was particularly correct when he said that the poor receive lectures. They receive little altruistic assistance. The fact is that this has been so all through history and the promise that the UN would change its course has been belied. It was unrealistic to think otherwise. The UN was meant to look after the interests of the victors of the Second World War though it was projected as a democratic body of sovereign states which would ensure equality and equity in global affairs. The problem now is that in the past eight decades the world has transformed beyond measure—in power, population numbers and above all technologically. However, the P5 countries are unwilling to give up their privileges and the principal among them—the US—is showing great disdain for it. As such its significance is eroding but there is nothing on the horizon that can take its place.

There is some who think that the world can make fundamental alter existential global crises without the participation of the US. This is not possible. Hence, it is essential for global opinion to strengthen the more enlightened forces within the US.