United Nations: Asking the UN General Assembly to take lead in setting the global agenda, India has asserted that the 102-member world body's position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nation must be respected in letter and in spirit.

Participating in the debate on the revitalisation of the Assembly yesterday, its delegate Tiruchi Siva, MP, said it must also use its powers decisively especially in the economic matters.

He said the benefits of involving the General Assembly in international economic governance have been made evident during the current financial crisis.

"A section of its membership drawn from the global South has consistently pointed out that economic orthodoxies proposed by a group of nations have grave shortcomings," he said, adding that these fears, often voiced in this Assembly and its Committees, have been validated by recent events.

The crisis has also underscored the importance of giving a representative body such as the General Assembly a much greater say in shaping the international economic and financial architecture, particularly in the reform of the Bretton Woods Institutions, Siva added.

The debate is being held in the backdrop of the criticism of the Security Council by several members, including India, for trying to arrogate to itself the issues that are in the domain of the Assembly. These include the economic issues.

The Council is supreme in issues of international peace and security but several members feel that it has been discussing problems which do not fall into that category by merely saying that they pose threat to international peace and security.
Source : PTI