Newsroom24x7 Desk
Jakarta: India’s external affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has utilised the 10th anniversary of the New Asian African Strategic Partnership to send out a message to the world that shared will and capacities of the Afro-Asian countries will contribute to peace, stability and sustainable development with the United Nations playing a central role in dealing with global challenges and threats.
Ms. Swaraj was speaking at the 60th Anniversary of Asian-African Conference and the 10th Anniversary of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership, under the theme of “Strengthening South-South Cooperation to Promote World Peace and Prosperity” in Jakarta this Monday.
The Indian external Affairs Minister underscored that the 10th anniversary of the New Asian African Partnership is taking place in the year 2015 in which various streams of the global discourse are gathering pace to culminate in four key events – COP21 on Climate Change in Paris, Summit to finalize Post-2015 Development Agenda, 70th Anniversary of the UN and the 10th WTO Ministerial in Kenya – each one of which will have far-reaching political and economic ramifications.
Ms. Swaraj drew attention to “significant transitions and developments” taking place in Asia, Europe and the Middle East with regional and global implications. Every country in this world, she said, had faced the scourge of terrorism.
The year 2015 marks the 70th year of the foundation of the United Nations and 10th anniversary of the World Summit and also comes with an unique opportunity to demonstrate collective will to reform the UN which is the global institution for political governance, Ms. Swaraj emphasised adding: “Our failure to push for any kind of outcomes only adds to the increasing sentiment of frustration amongst the wider membership and dents the credibility of the Security Council’s decisions, if it continues to ignore contemporary realities of the 21st century.”
