India on Thursday (local time) called for the revitalization of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and reforms in global governance architecture.
India has always been of the view that the UN General Assembly can be revitalised only when its position as the primary deliberative and representative organ of the UN is respected, emphasised Pratik Mathur, Minister at the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations.
Mathur said that the United Nations General Assembly is the foremost global assembly of nations and its primacy and legitimacy flow from the inclusive nature of its membership and the principle of sovereign equality of all its constituents.
Further, he added that the universal character of the General Assembly and the moral weight of its decisions and opinions cannot be overemphasised.
“As a general principle, the quality of working methods is integral to the efficiency and effectiveness of any organisation,” Mathur said.
These need to evolve with time and reflect the necessities of changing circumstances and realities.
Moreover, he stressed that identifying gaps and implementing improvements in the working methods of the General Assembly are important parts of their efforts towards its revitalisation.
Mathur further emphasised that any attempt to improve the working methods should keep in mind that the objective of such changes should be to enhance the role of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations.
Additionally, the deliberations in the General Assembly should be inclusive, allowing every member state to take equal part in it.
He added, “At the same time the member states should engage in substantive deliberations in the six main committees that could result in setting new norms without being bogged down by procedural issues.”
Mathur further underscored that the agenda of the General Assembly has expanded exponentially over the years and noted that it is important that the GA agenda is made more manageable so that the discussions become more informed and effective.
The General Assembly revitalization process has yielded fruitful results in recent years, which has improved the way elections are held at the UN.
“However, there is room for further improvement as elections that spread over multiple rounds take several hours and become tedious. Modern technologies can help us save the precious time of the General Assembly,” he added.
He also advised the Secretariat to conduct a time-bound analysis of the current electoral practices, identify gaps and problems, explore other solutions including technologically advanced electronic voting systems and recommend specific suggestions for improvements.
(ANI)