 "Pacific Rim nations agree to historic trade agreement")
Describing the UN Security Council as the "most grotesque example of global power oligopoly", India has said developing nations have a "marginal say" in unfavourable international regimes and called for more representative and participatory global governance structures.
"To ensure that globalisation becomes a positive force for sustainable development for all the world's people, there is a need to strengthen multilateralism through representative and participatory global governance structures," Counsellor in the India's Permanent Mission to the UN here Amit Narang said at a session on 'Globalisation and Interdependence' at the General Assembly's Second Committee yesterday.
He said a globalised world demands that the international regimes for global governance are reflective of contemporary realities.
"Yet, unfavourable and iniquitous international regimes, in which developing countries have a marginal say, continue to prevent developing countries from taking full advantage of globalisation," he said adding that inequity in global governance is itself an obstacle to sustainable development and for effective management of globalisation.
Narang said the need for reform is not merely about the Security Council, which is "only the most grotesque example of global power oligopoly", but is equally valid and urgent with regard to other institutions including the international financial institutions, where even modest proposals for incremental reform have remained buried under selective legislative obscurantism.
"In the context of the new agenda which applies equally to all countries, rich and poor, North and South, small and big, governance of international institutions needs to be looked at carefully and unequal power structures and lop-sided or outdated models need to be urgently reformed," he said.
Narang asserted that inclusiveness and rule of law demand that developing countries are afforded an equal place at the table. He also stressed on the need for mutual respect for cultures, which is a fundamental premise of successful globalisation.
"From an Indian perspective, a culture-sensitive approach is one that embraces differences, celebrates diversity and promotes mutual respect," he said.
