Tag: United nations

Quad Meet an Extension of India’s Philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ as Democratic Values Unite Us, PM Modi Tells US, Oz, Japan

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The Quad has come of age and its agenda covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes it a force for global good, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the first summit of the coalition. In his opening remarks, he also talked about shared values and promoting a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

“We are united by our democratic values, and our commitment to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. Our agenda today covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies makes the Quad a force for global good,” he said. The virtual summit was attended by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

“I see this positive vision as an extension of India’s ancient philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which regards the world as one family,” Modi said. “We will work together, closer than ever before for advancing our shared values and promoting a secure, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” he said.

The prime minister said the holding of the summit shows that the Quad has come of age and it will now remain an important pillar of stability in the region. In his remarks, Biden said there was a need to focus on generating domestic demand and driving sustainable global growth. He also talked about having an ambitious new joint partnership that is going to boost vaccine manufacturing and strengthen vaccinations to benefit the entire Indo-Pacific region.

“We are establishing a new mechanism to enhance our cooperation and raise our mutual ambition as we address accelerating climate change,” he said. The US president also mentioned the commitment to ensure that the region is governed by international law and it is free from coercion.

“I am optimistic about our prospects,” he said. The most significant among the deliverables envisaged in the summit is a coronavirus vaccine initiative that will allow new manufacturing capacity to be added in India for exports to the Indo-Pacific region, sources said.

President Joe Biden said on Friday that a “free and open Indo-Pacific is essential” to all and the US was committed to working with its partners and allies in the region to achieve stability. Biden also described the Quad as a new mechanism to enhance cooperation and raise mutual ambition as the member states address accelerating climate change.

“A free and open Indo-Pacific is essential to each of our futures, our countries,” Biden told the top leaders of the Quadrilateral alliance, which has been often projected in the Chinese official media as an alliance against China’s rise. This is a group particularly important because it is dedicated to the practical solutions and concrete results,” he said at the virtual summit, which is the first conclave of the top leaders of the Quad.

“We know our commitments…Our region is governed by international law, committed to all the universal values and free from coercion but I am optimistic about our prospect, he said, in an apparent reference to China which is flexing its muscles in the strategically vital region. “The Quad is going to be vital in our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and I look forward to looking closely to working with all of you in the coming years,” Biden told the Quad leaders as he requested Prime Minister Modi to speak.

“It’s great to see you,” Biden, who is attending the summit less than two months after he took charge as US President, told Prime Minister Modi. The other Quad leaders expressed similar excitement and willingness to collaborate in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked President Biden for brining in the four nations together and said that ”history teaches us that we are nations engaged together in a partnership of strategic trust of common hope and shared values, much can be achieved. Stating that it will be the Indo-Pacific which will now shape the destiny of the world in the 21st century, Scott said that “as leaders of four great liberal democracies in Indo-Pacific let our partnership be the enabler of peace, stability and prosperity.”

Morrison said it was important to do so inclusively with the many nations in the region in order to respect and support their sovereignty, independence and security by upholding the values and supporting international law and to address many challenges from COVID to climate change. He said that Australia was ready to look into these tasks and do its share of heavy lifting.

Earlier, Morrison dubbed the meet as “a historic meeting of four leaders from these nations, which are such close friends. “There have been meetings of foreign ministers. There have been many other meetings. But when governments come together at the highest level, this shows a whole new level of cooperation to create a new anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and working with important other partners in the region, and particularly the ASEAN nations and their view of the Indo-Pacific that so much informs our own,” he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga recalled the 2004 Tsunami disaster when Quad first member states came together. “We received massive support from the US, Australia, and India in our response to the disaster. Joe visited the affected area soon after the disaster, and I think you once again,” he said.

Known as the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. The Quad member states have been resolving to uphold a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

The foreign ministers of the Quad countries held a virtual meeting on February 18 during which they vowed to uphold a rules-based international order underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes. The evolving situation in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing has become a major talking point among leading global powers. The US has been favouring making Quad a security architecture to check China’s growing assertiveness.

The foreign ministers of the Quad member nations met in Tokyo on October 6 last year and reaffirmed their collective vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The Quad foreign ministers held their first meeting under the Quadrilateral or Quad framework in New York in September 2019.

In November 2017, India, Japan, the US and Australia gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence.

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India at Forefront in Fighting Covid-19, Stands Out in Vaccine Policy: Gita Gopinath

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India has been at the forefront in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and “really stands out in terms of its vaccine policy, Chief Economist of the IMF Gita Gopinath said on Monday, as she hailed the country for playing a very important role during the crisis by manufacturing and shipping the COVID-19 vaccines to several nations. Gopinath made the comments in an interactive session during the Inaugural Dr. Hansa Mehta Lecture organised on occasion of International Women’s Day.

“I also want to mention that India really stands out in terms of its vaccine policy. If you look at where exactly is one manufacturing hub for vaccines in the world – that will be India,” Gopinath said. Gopinath lauded the Serum Institute of India, saying it produces the most number of vaccines in the world in a regular year and has been manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine doses that are delivered to COVAX and then distributed to countries around the world.

“India has been at the forefront in fighting this pandemic,” she said, noting that India has been providing vaccines through grants to several of its neighbour countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, and through commercial arrangements as well. The country has been playing a very important role in helping the world in the global health crisis through its vaccination policies, she said.

Gopinath was responding to a question on India, which is a vaccine hub of the world, and the role the country can play in contributing to global economic recovery. Gopinath pointed out that India makes up about 7 per cent of world GDP based on purchasing power parity terms.

“So when you’re that large, what happens in India has implications for many other countries in the world, especially countries in the region,” she said. Noting that India was hit very hard by this pandemic, Gopinath said the country, which typically grows at over 6 per cent, recorded a growth of negative 8 per cent in 2020.

“So it was very hard hit but you do see the recovery coming back as the country has reopened, activities returning,” she said. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected an impressive 11.5 per cent growth rate for India in 2021, making the country the only major economy of the world to register a double-digit growth this year amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

“Now because of its size, when you have India growing, it increases demand for goods from other parts of the world and that’s a big positive,” she said. Gopinath gave the keynote address at the Inaugural Dr. Hansa Mehta Lecture.

The lecture, named in the memory of the pioneering Indian reformer and educator, was organised virtually by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN and The United Nations Academic Impact. Mehta had served as the Indian delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights from 1947 to 1948 and is widely known for ensuring a more gender sensitive language in the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UDHR. She is credited with making a significant change in the language of Article 1 of the UDHR, by replacing the phrase All men are born free and equal to All human beings are born free and equal.

Speaking at the lecture, Assistant-Secretary-General & Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Anita Bhatia described Mehta as an exceptional leader who was willing to take personal and professional risks, had the ability to speak truth to power, had the courage of her convictions and most importantly, someone who had a simple and yet very powerful belief in the need for social, economic, and political justice for women. Bhatia said she would tell Mehta today that there have been huge improvements in many areas of gender equality since her time. Mehta would be astonished to learn that in many parts of the world there are now more women than men in higher education, she would be pleased at the improvements in educational opportunities and be very happy to know about the improvements in maternal mortality, in health outcomes for women generally, Bhatia said.

Bhatia said “Mehta would be astonished to learn how far we have to go given that 25 per cent of parliamentarians in the world only are women, only 14 countries in the world have gender equal cabinets, less than 10 per cent of heads of state are women and less than 10 per cent of heads of government are women. As we think ahead to what International Women’s Day symbolises and how we can build back after the crippling effects of the pandemic,” which have decimated women’s health, security, income, reducing female labour force participation, Bhatia said nations must commit to putting women at the center of efforts to build back better, paying attention to the child care burden, ensuring they really work towards the Sustainable Development Goal 5 by making women’s rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment a universal agenda for both men and boys and making gender, and women’s economic empowerment everybody’s business.

“If we are to achieve gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, we need to do so not just with women in mind, but women in the room and women at the table,” Bhatia said. Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming, head of global communications for the United Nations, said Mehta built an enormously rich legacy during her life as a scholar, educator, feminist, social reformer and writer and is an indispensable figure to the history of the United Nations.

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