Physician, Heal Thyself!

Address by the Prime Minister at 57th. Session of the United Nations General Assembly, New YorkSeptember 13, 2002

Mr. President,

I congratulate you on your election as President of the 57th General Assembly. We wish you success andpledge our whole-hearted support.

I also extend my best wishes to :Secretary General Kofi Annan in this first year of his second term inoffice.

Mr. President,

Two days ago, we commemorated the first anniversary of a terrible event, which focused the collectiveglobal consciousness on international terrorism. Terrorism did not start on September 11. It was on that daythat it brazenly announced itself on the global stage, flaunting its immunity from distance and power.

As a country exposed to the depredations of terrorism for decades, India empathized with the pain of theAmerican people, admired their resilience in coming to terms with the consequences, and supported the bolddecision to counterattack terrorism at its very source.

The international community has taken some collective decisions in the global effort to combat terrorismand to choke off its lifelines. The U.N. Security Council Resolution 1373 contains the essence of thesedecisions. Its Counter Terrorism Committee should now move beyond information compilation and legal assistanceto enforcing compliance by states known to be sponsoring, sheltering, funding, arming and training terrorists.

In our South Asian region, nuclear blackmail has emerged over the last few months as a new arrow in thequiver of State-sponsored terrorism. Dark threats were held out that actions by India to stamp outcross-border terrorism could provoke a nuclear war. To succumb to such blatant nuclear terrorism would meanforgetting the bitter lessons of the September 11 tragedy.

As far as India is concerned, we have repeatedly clarified that no one in our country wants a war --conventional or otherwise. Nor are we seeking any territory.

But absolutely everyone in India wants an end to the cross-border terrorism, which has claimed thousands ofinnocent lives and denied entire generations their right to a peaceful existence with normal economic andsocial activity. We are determined to end it with all the means at our command. Let there be no doubt about itin any quarter.

Mr. President,

Yesterday we heard the extraordinary claim in this Assembly that the brutal murder of innocent civilians inJammu & Kashmir is actually a "freedom struggle". And that the forthcoming elections in thatstate are a "farce", since they cannot be a substitute for a plebiscite demanded over 50 years ago.

It requires an effort of logical acrobatics to believe that carnage of innocents is an instrument forfreedom and elections are a symbol of deception and repression!

If the elections are a mere fraud, why are terrorists being trained and infiltrated into India at thecommand of the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency of Pakistan to kill election candidates and to intimidatevoters?

If Pakistan claims to be a crucial partner in the international coalition against terrorism, how can itcontinue to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy against India?

How can the international coalition condone Pakistan-directed killings of thousands of innocent civilians-- women and children included - to promote a bizarre version of "self-determination"?

Those who speak of "underlying" or "root" causes of terrorism, offer alibis to theterrorists and absolve them of responsibility for their heinous actions - such as the September 11 attacks onthe United States or the December 13 attack on our Parliament.

Those who had to "adjust" voting and counting procedures to win a referendum - and achievedconstitutional authority by the simple expedient of writing their own constitution - are ill placed to lectureothers on freedom and democracy.

Mr. President,

Yesterday we heard yet another patently false and self-serving claims that in India, Muslims and otherminorities are the target of "Hindu extremists". With 150 million, India has the second largestMuslim population in the world, more than in Pakistan. We are proud of the multi-religious character of oursociety. Equal respect for all faiths, and non-discrimination on the basis of religion, is not just ourConstitutional obligation. As the whole world knows, it is the signature tune of India's civilization andculture.

Mr. President,

We have to recognize that the developmental divide between the North and the South is becoming wider anddeeper by the day. The challenges that face us are stark and there is no alternative to all the countries ofthe world joining hands to face them together.

Over the last decade, 10 million people have been joining the ranks of the poor each year. A quarter of theworld's population lives in extreme poverty.

A million lives are lost to malaria each year, Tuberculosis claims twice as many lives annually. One-fifthof humanity does not have access to safe drinking water.

We have to find US$ 24 billion annually for investment in poor countries if we are to achieve the WorldFood Summit goal of halving hunger by 2015.

It was this bleak picture that we addressed in our Millennium Declaration in 2000 with a time-bound - roadmap for poverty eradication, with goals and targets to be achieved by 2015. The Monterrey Conference onFinancing for Development was an encouraging beginning in the effort to enhance international financing fordevelopment.

Continuation of widespread poverty, at a time when unimaginable wealth is concentrated in a small sociallayer, is totally unacceptable. The 21St century has all the means to end this sad legacy of the pastcenturies. What is lacking is the political will among the developed countries to sincerely and speedilyaddress the legitimate developmental needs of the developing countries, especially the least developed ones.

The poor of the world, as also the more enlightened sections of the rich around the world, would like theUnited Nations to spearhead efforts to end the systemic indifference towards poverty. The agenda of actionthat would achieve this objective is clear:

1.) asymmetry in trading relations between developing and developed nations; the problem of decliningprices for commodities from developing countries; and all unjustified barriers to their exports must beremoved.

2.) extreme volatility in global energy markets has been causing havoc with the trade and fiscal balancesof developing countries. This must end.

3.) unpredictability in global capital movements, which periodically devastate the economies of developingcountries, must be controlled.

4.) malfeasant corporate practices, which drain off the natural resources and traditional knowledge base ofdeveloping countries without fair compensation, must be dealt with sternly.

Casting an even longer shadow over this grim developmental canvas is global climate change - from which thepoor will suffer the most, though they contributed the least to it. The recent floods and forest fires inEurope are a forewarning that the countries of Asia and Africa are not the only victims of the fury of adegraded environment. The Earth's atmosphere and biosphere know no national boundaries. The choice before theglobal community is stark: Either we take urgent steps to protect the environment, or be prepared for farworse natural calamities.

Early this month, the Johannesburg Summit for Sustainable Development debated some of the linkages betweenpoverty, trade, environment, national, international & corporate governance and global financial flows. Weemerged from the Summit with some encouraging outcomes, but these fell well short of the demands of our time.

It has become a categorical imperative to understand, and address, man's developmental needs in theirtotality - and not in isolated parts. It is disconcerting that the highways of development are jammed by thenoisy and unruly traffic of materialism and its brash cousin, consumerism. Human values have become mutebystanders in most political, economic and social activities.

The result of this imbalance between our material and non-material needs can never be happy for mankind. Onthe contrary, by placing compassion, care, fellow feeling, cooperation and other human values in the driver'sseat, we are bound to get the right solutions to every problem on our planet.

Humanity is crying out for a harmonious integration of the economic, social, political, environmental andspiritual dimensions of development. This task calls for the closest possible cooperation among nations andcommunities, with a readiness to accept the best from every cultural and spiritual tradition around the globe.The United Nations needs to take up newer and bigger initiatives in this direction.

In this Assembly, less than a year ago - and in the US Congress the year before - I had extended India'soffer to coordinate a Comprehensive Global Development Dialogue. I reiterate that offer today. If we are toachieve the development goals we have promised ourselves by 2015, we need such a dialogue urgently.

Mr. President,

As we come together once again at the United Nations, at a time of new and varied challenges, we shouldreflect on our collective commitment to the UN Charter, its purposes and principles. There is a growingperception - particularly among the weaker and poorer countries - that responses to issues of far-reachingimpact often seem arbitrary or contradictory.

A common destiny is at stake. The world needs collective multilateralism. It needs the United Nations - thecoming together and working together of all its nations in the development of a common and collectiveperspective.

Conflicts arise when there is no spirit of democracy within and among nations. A genuinely democraticframework enables us to respect alternative points of view, to value diversity, and to fashion solutionsresponsive to the aspirations of the people.

India's own experience as a hugely populated and diverse nation shows how complex problems can be addressedwithin a constitutional and democratic framework.

These values need to be assiduously nurtured in our societies, so that at least a future generation is rid ofthe scourge of poverty, intolerance, obscurantism and religious extremism.

Democratic societies are far less prone to ideologies based on violence or militarist yearnings, since theydo not have their fingers permanently on the trigger of a gun. We have to be vigilant against threats todemocracy worldwide arising from forces that are opposed to it, be they rooted in fundamentalist politicaldogmas or extremist religious ideologies.

Mr. President,

All of us are aware of the challenges. Most of us are agreed that a stable global order has to rest on thefour strong pillars of peace, security, sustainable development and democracy. We have to ensure that each ofthese pillars is strong and resilient.
We are conscious of our collective responsibility. It is the leap from this theoretical understanding to itspractical realization, which we have often failed to execute. We should not fail again. Our future generationswill not forgive us if we do.

Thank you.