UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, responding to a question about the recent attacks against Muslims and Christians in India, said Wednesday that religious hatred was “totally unacceptable”.
The UN chief, back from his trip to New Delhi for the G20 leaders’ summit, was asked by a Pakistani journalist whether in light of the summit’s declaration, which deplored all acts of religious hatred, he raised with the Indian leadership the recent violence against the minorities by Hindu extremists in India.
“Well, I had no meeting with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi — There was no bilateral meeting during the summit,” the secretary-general told a crowded press conference to set the scene for next week’s high-level UN General Assembly’s debate.
“But”, he added, “our position is clear: Religious intolerance is a violation of human rights that is totally unacceptable.”
In his opening remarks, the UN chief had a clear message for world leaders arriving in New York next week: “This is not a time for posturing or positioning.”
Pakistan’s caretaker Prime minister Anwaar-ul Haq Kakar will be among over 100 world leaders attending the debate.
“Action is what the world needs,” Guterres said defining the gathering of 193 member states for the UN General Assembly High Level Week as a “one of a kind moment” to both assess the state of world affairs but also “act for the common good”.
“This is not a time for indifference or indecision,” António Guterres told reporters atthe UN Headquarters. “This is a time to come together for real, practical solutions.”
“It is time for compromise for a better tomorrow. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise.”
He began his remarks reflecting on the thousands of deaths in Morocco and Libya in recent days.
“The United Nations is mobilizing to support relief efforts. We will work in any and every way we can with partners to help get emergency assistance to those who so desperately need it,” said the secretary-general.
Fresh from key international summits in Nairobi, Jakarta and New Delhi – plus a visit to Havana on Thursday to meet leaders of the G77 group plus China – he said UNGA78 was convening for high level meetings amidst huge challenges.
He cited the intensifying climate emergency, new conflicts, the cost of living, and soaring inequality.
“People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess. Yet in the face of all this and more, geopolitical divisions are undermining our capacity to respond,” said Guterres.
“A multipolar world is emerging. Multipolarity can be a factor of equilibrium, but it can also lead to escalating tensions, fragmentation and worse.
“To cement this new and complex world order, there need to be strong and reformed institutions based around the UN Charter and international law.
“I know reform is fundamentally about power – and there are many competing interests and agendas in our increasingly multipolar world,” he continued. “But at a time when our challenges are more connected than ever, the outcome of a zero-sum game is that everyone gets zero.”
He laid out the stall for next week’s key summits, on climate, investment for development, health challenges and specific regional crises.
Next week begins with a two-day meeting on how best to “rescue” the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed in Paris eight years ago, on the road to the ambitious 2030 deadline.
Ending his prepared remarks, the UN chief reiterated his appeal to those heads of state and government bound for Manhattan:
“If we want a future of peace and prosperity based on equity and solidarity, leaders have a special responsibility to achieve compromise in designing our common future for our common good.
“Next week in New York is the place to start.”
