New Delhi: Stressing that multilateralism was the only means to resolve global conflicts, visiting United Nations Deputy Secretary General Louisse Frechette today (Jan 27, 2004) said the world body was now engaged in an international effort to forge a common strategy to make the role of UN pre-eminent.

Without directly referring to the US role in Iraq, Frechette in her keynote address to the sixth Asian Security Conference, organised by Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), said in an increasing inter-connected world, no nation - even the most powerful - can solve the problems by itself.

Emphasising that the expansion of the UN Security Council was long overdue, the Deputy Secretary General on her first visit to India referred to appointment by Secretary General Kofi Annan of a high level international panel, whose object is to find a "credible and convincing collective answer to the challenges of our times".

Saying that the panel was not to suggest UN reform, Frechette said it might propose changes in the rules and mechanism of the United Nations, including to the Security Council itself and coincidently the theme of the conference this year is 'Multilateralism and International Security'.

"I am absolutely convinced that many of the tasks confronting us can be accomplished only by working through multilateral mechanisms among which the UN, by virtue of its global reach, is surely pre-eminent," she said.

However, multilateralism would not just happen, Frechette said, adding it required enormous effort of will by many people in many countries to define common purposes and forge a common strategy for achieving them.

"It is in that effort that the UN is now engaged," she added.

Frechette said though terrorism dominates the agenda of the US and the European union (EU), there was "still a range of other dangers" such as poverty, hunger, disease, crime, poor governance and environmental degradation causing most of the suffering in the world.

"...(These) can contribute to the conditions, which make war or terrorism or both more likely," she said.

Accusing powerful States of not giving due importance and resources to the these challenges, she said the UN, however, was playing its part in the global response to issues of international terrorism and dangers of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Recalling UN contribution to establishing order in post-Taliban Afghanistan, she lauded India's peacekeeping contribution saying, "The head of UN Civilian Police Division was an Indian woman - Kiran Bedi.

Describing Gen Satish Nambiar as "distinguished Indian thinker and practitioner of peace and security", Frechette said he has been appointed to the new UN high-level panel.

She asked India to continue making vital contribution in solving urgent global problems.