PUNE: The United Nations no longer reflects the reality of the world and is in need of reforms, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.
“It is really a bit like a firm. It is like the shareholders have changed, but the management has not. So, there are the new shareholders who want fair management, but the old guys don’t want to let go… This issue is not going to be easily resolved, but with each passing day the pressure is building,” he said at the “G20 Festival of Thinkers Summit” organised by Symbiosis International (Deemed University).
Calling the economic challenges presented by the relationship with China as “very very serious”, Jaishankar, speaking at the Asia Economic Dialogue later, said: “Back in 2006, we had even contemplated a free trade agreement with China. It was an optimistic era of relationships. People thought that Chinese presence would grow, our presence would grow, and somewhere we could find some balance. Realities were, however, different. It was not just unequal market access, we actually saw the migration of business from India to China. ” He said not just the government but industries and corporates also need to take responsibility to correct this imbalance.
While making a reference to Pakistan’s economic crisis, he said it was in nobody’s interest that a neighbouring country falls into crisis, but tough policy and governance decisions need to be made to get out of an economic crisis. “No country can come out of a difficult situation and become a prosperous power if its basic industry is terrorism,” he added.
Talking about the Afghanistan crisis, Jaishankar said, “We all hope that things will get better one day.
“It is really a bit like a firm. It is like the shareholders have changed, but the management has not. So, there are the new shareholders who want fair management, but the old guys don’t want to let go… This issue is not going to be easily resolved, but with each passing day the pressure is building,” he said at the “G20 Festival of Thinkers Summit” organised by Symbiosis International (Deemed University).
Calling the economic challenges presented by the relationship with China as “very very serious”, Jaishankar, speaking at the Asia Economic Dialogue later, said: “Back in 2006, we had even contemplated a free trade agreement with China. It was an optimistic era of relationships. People thought that Chinese presence would grow, our presence would grow, and somewhere we could find some balance. Realities were, however, different. It was not just unequal market access, we actually saw the migration of business from India to China. ” He said not just the government but industries and corporates also need to take responsibility to correct this imbalance.
While making a reference to Pakistan’s economic crisis, he said it was in nobody’s interest that a neighbouring country falls into crisis, but tough policy and governance decisions need to be made to get out of an economic crisis. “No country can come out of a difficult situation and become a prosperous power if its basic industry is terrorism,” he added.
Talking about the Afghanistan crisis, Jaishankar said, “We all hope that things will get better one day.