India’s ambassador to Lisbon, Puneet Roy Kundal, has called for reform of the United Nations — particularly its Security Council — and the World Trade Organization (WTO), arguing that a new multilateral order is needed to reflect current international realities.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency on the sidelines of the conference ‘BRICS+ In a Multipolar World: Power, Cooperation and Conflict’, organised by the Observatory of the Islamic World at the Lisbon Mosque, the diplomat said the principal international challenge is that the existing world order no longer represents today’s geopolitical and economic reality.

‘BRICS is an open platform that had five members and now has eleven. It is a platform that believes in multilateralism, in giving voice to the Global South, in development and in opening options for countries around the world,’ Kundal said. ‘The biggest challenge that exists in the world today is that the current order does not represent the realities of the world today,’ he added.

According to the ambassador, the international financial architecture and existing security mechanisms reflect historical circumstances that no longer correspond to reality. ‘This financial architecture, the security that exists, represents what happened at the beginning of the Second World War. The realities have changed,’ he argued. The reconfiguration of the multilateral order is one of the priorities of the bloc of emerging economies and developing countries.

That position was reflected in the joint declaration approved at the 18th BRICS Summit, held in September in New Delhi. Having overcome diplomatic differences related to tensions in the Middle East, leaders of the eleven member countries called for reform of the global economic order and a strengthening of multilateralism, while criticising unilateral sanctions and tariff wars.

‘BRICS is an open platform that had five members and now has eleven. It is a platform that believes in multilateralism, in giving voice to the Global South, in development and in opening options for countries around the world.’

‘If you look at the BRICS declaration, we also speak of reforming the World Trade Organization and a fair market order, with the WTO at its centre. Of course, the UN Security Council is also part of that,’ Kundal declared, recalling Portugal’s support for India’s candidacy for permanent membership of the Security Council. India is the world’s most populous country, the fourth-largest economy and a regular contributor to the United Nations.

On international conflicts, the ambassador cited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for whom the time has come to ‘end wars instead of continuing with endless wars’. Kundal also stated that India is prepared to contribute to peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine and will do what is necessary to promote peace, security and development.

‘We have good relations with Palestine, we have good relations with Israel, and this BRICS document also specifies that the destruction of civilian infrastructure and atrocities against civilians must stop,’ the diplomat said, adding that India has played a constructive role in seeking solutions to conflicts.

Asked about the political and military differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran — both BRICS members — Kundal stressed that both countries had endorsed the New Delhi declaration despite regional tensions. ‘The fact that both signed the Delhi declaration means that we managed to find common ground between them. Peace is always desirable,’ he concluded.

Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=552622