Severely critical of the Western powers in dealing with various problems facing the world, Iran today called for shunning their "zero some game" approach and pitched for a new paradigm based on principles of equality as propounded by Mahatma Gandhi.
Delivering the fifth R K Mishra Memorial Lecture, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said there was an urgent need to fundamentally change the existing approaches in resolving various conflicts and said India and Iran must join hands towards forcefully seeking the change.
"If the security at the expense of insecurity of others makes any sense, then we should have never had 9/11. I thought 9/11 was enough to prove to everybody that security is the globalised common commodity. You cannot own it. You need to share it. You cannot have security alliances, you need to have security network," he said.
The lecture, organised by Observer Research Foundation, was attended by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and number of senior diplomats from various countries.
Underlining the need for adopting a different outlook to deal with various issues, he said "zero some mentality" of Western powers has complicated situation in various conflict zones in the world.
"I believe India and Iranians have been in the forefront of fighting for that different outlook. When Mahatma Gandhi presented his outlook that was the beginning of a new paradigm of international relations," he said.
The visiting minister accused the Western countries of attempting to define international relations in a different way and said the world is undergoing significant transformation and nobody can claim monopoly over any country.
Iran had bitter relations with the US and some of the Western powers following its controversial nuclear programme.
In his inaugural address, Khurshid said Iran is "too important" a country to be sidelined by anyone. He said instability in Syria has the potential to undermine stability in the entire West Asia.
