UN was born out of World War II, let's rebuild it out of Covid-19, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the Covid-19 pandemic had provided the context for the rebirth and reform of the United Nations, which was born out of the devastation of World War II.

“The United Nations was originally born from the furies of the Second World War. Today, the fury of the pandemic provides the context for its rebirth and reform. Let us not lose this chance,” Modi said, delivering a keynote address virtually at the “High-Level Segment” of the current session of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

This was the Prime Minister’s first address to a United Nations body after India last month won a non-permanent seat at the Security Council of the international organisation for a two-year term commencing from January 2021. He indicated that New Delhi would continue to argue for the reform of the United Nations during its tenure at the Security Council.

India has since long been asking for expansion of the Security Council with permanent seats for itself, as well as for Japan, Germany and Brazil.

The Prime Minister on Friday said that India firmly believed in multilateralism as the path to achieve sustainable peace and prosperity. “As children of planet Earth, we must join hands to address our common challenges and achieve our common goals,” he said, adding: “However, multilateralism needs to represent the reality of the contemporary world. Only reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations at its centre can meet the aspirations of humanity.”

“Today,” he said, “while celebrating the 75 years of the United Nations, let us pledge to reform the global multilateral system – to enhance its relevance, to improve its effectiveness, and to make it the basis of a new type of human-centric globalisation.”

He said that the Covid-19 pandemic had severely tested the resilience of all nations. India tried to make the fight against the pandemic a people's movement, by combining the efforts of the government and the society. He said that the government had given the highest priority to deliver benefits to poor households. “We have announced a package of more than $300 billion. It will bring the economy back on track, build modern infrastructure and put in place a technology-driven system,” said the Prime Minister. “We have put forward a vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' a self-reliant and Resilient India, integrated with the global economy.”