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NEW DELHI: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Monday for the
radical reform of world institutions to help meet the new challenges
of the 21st century, in particular the rise of India and China. On a
two-day visit to New Delhi, Brown told business leaders the changes
should be inspired by the postwar “visionaries” who set up the
United Nations and other bodies like the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank.
But he said the “new world order” should be
more representative of what he called “the biggest shift in the
balance of economic power in the world in two centuries”—the
Asian economic boom.
“Only with international institutions that
promote cooperation out of shared interest and predictability and
accountability can large numbers of states consistently work
together for the benefit of all,” he said.
“But to succeed now, the postwar rules of the
game and the postwar international institutions, fit for the Cold
War and a world of just 50 states, must be radically reformed to fit
our world of globalization; 200 states, and emerging single
marketplace, unprecedented individual autonomy and the increasing
power of informal networks.”
He added: “We can and must do more to make our
global institutions more representative. I support changes to the
IMF, World Bank and the G-8 that reflect the rise of India and
Asia.”
The keynote speech was billed by his office as
an outline of one of Brown’s main foreign policy priorities, and
an attempt to secure Indian backing for his plan due to its growing
clout on the world stage.
Britain already supports moves to make India a
permanent member of the UN Security Council, a reflection of its
status as an emerging economic powerhouse increasingly courted by
world leaders.
“The task ahead is to agree for our time the
rules that can make globalization a force for hope and progress for
people,” Brown said.
“I believe that only in this way can
globalization become what it should be: a force for justice on a
global scale.”
Brown arrived in India from China on Sunday.
Both countries are among the world’s fastest-growing economies and
like many European countries, Britain is keen to court them to boost
lucrative trade ties and other links.
According to Britain’s Foreign Office,
relations between the two countries are at their healthiest ever.
Brown indicated Sunday that Britain, the former colonial power here
until 1947, was no longer the dominant partner.
Instead he said the relationship was now “a
partnership of equals” striving for common goals.
Details of Brown’s Sunday night dinner talks
with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were kept under wraps, but
he said he would raise a number of issues including climate change
and stronger counter-terrorism links.
Brown said he would look to secure both India
and China’s backing for a new global deal to cut greenhouse gas
emissions when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012.
India, which with China classes itself as a
developing nation, is opposed to binding targets. Brown said he was
not dismayed by India’s stance and said New Delhi could play a
positive role in securing a new agreement.
The situation in military-ruled Myanmar was also
to be raised. Brown, who wrote about imprisoned prodemocracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi in his 2007 book Courage, urged India to use its
influence to help moves to democracy.
Brown and Singh were to hold further talks on
Monday ahead of a joint press conference in the evening.
The British leader was to launch closer sporting
and educational ties between the two countries.
-- AFP
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