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Meeting with Mr. Gordon Brown, Hon'ble British Prime Minister
January
21, 2008, New Delhi Building a new global society: the renewal of
the International Institutions I want to start this morning by thanking
the Minister of Commerce Kamal Nath for his kind introduction - and the Confederation
of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce for organising
this event today. It is a privilege for me to be here in India which not
only has so many ties of history with Britain, but now stands as a shining example
to the world of our shared faith in free institutions, free markets and free societies. And
it is amazing to see at first hand the astonishing pace of change in India; to
sense the real dynamism and excitement it is generating; and to witness the vibrancy
and potential of this vast country, whose long march to liberty is now being matched
by your rapid march towards prosperity. And there is a prize for all of
us in a confident 21st century India, working with a confident 21st century Britain
in a partnership of equals and an alliance of shared values. The world's
largest democracy and one of the world's oldest democracies working in harmony. I
am here to speak of what we can achieve together and of a new world and a new
time - and India's rightful place in it. And my deep conviction is that
India and Britain can have a shaping influence for both progress and justice in
the emerging global order. My theme today is how - by working together and
advancing a plan to reform our international institutions - we can ensure that
globalisation brings prosperity, justice and opportunity not just for some people,
but for all. I am reminded of Rabindnath Tagore's summons to `a world....not
broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls'. And I want to describe
not just the new world order that is --but the new global society that we can
become: Not a world of old rules that only grudgingly concede
and comes to terms with our growing interdependence, with old institutions simply
trying to catch up with change--but new rules that positively embrace a new sovereignty
for an interdependent world, with international institutions renewed and retooled
for new challenges. Forces of change More than 150 years
ago, the then British Foreign Secretary, George Canning said that he had `called
the new world into existence to redress the balance of the old' - and my starting
point is the dramatic and seismic shifts in economy, culture and communication
that are coming to revolutionise the global distribution of wealth, status, power
and influence and creating the world anew. In this new era the only certainty
is that there continues to be uncertainty.
The only guarantee that there are
no guarantees.
The one constant difference.
The one common theme change. Just
look around us. First, with wave after wave of globalisation shaping the
architecture of a new economy that is for the first time truly global, we are
undergoing the biggest shift in the balance of economic power for two centuries
- the rise of Asia. And out of these global flows of capital and global
sourcing of goods and services, you - India - have been growing at over 8 per
cent for four years and in less than three decades from now you will be the world's
third largest economy. In just 15 years you have doubled your national income,
doubled your share of world exports, and lifted 20 million people out of poverty. And
with your economy today growing by more than 8 per cent, you are already the world's
fifth largest market for telecoms;
The world's fourth largest producer
of medicines;
The world's third largest market for new aircraft orders;
The world's second largest producer of software applications;
And are seen
worldwide as a first choice for IT in the aerospace and automotive industries. But
the global flow of goods and the shifts in the global economy are connected to
the further great changes at work: - The global mobility of people as
200 million each year leave their own countries in search of a better life....
- The
global movement of diseases - that can be swiftly transmitted from an isolated
place on one continent to any place on any continent...
- The global impact
of inequalities - where in a world of plenty, 2.5 billion people still live on
less than 2 dollars a day - and we are 30 years behind in our 2015 plan to cut
infant and maternal mortality and 85 years behind in our pledge to educate every
child.
Having lived through what we said to ourselves were unrepeatable
tragedies in Bosnia and Rwanda, we are now witnessing the sorrows of Burma and
Darfur. We see around us the first climate change droughts and soon we will
see the first climate change evacuations and climate change refugees. And
every day we face - not least here in India - the new threats of al-Qaeda, the
Taliban and global terrorism. And that leads us to the global challenge
of climate change - already having pervasive and prolonged consequences for ecosystems,
food and water supplies and indeed human life itself. And environmental degradation
in turn intensifies the competition for natural resources that has set off a new
scramble for access to oil, water, forests, fish and other natural resources. All
these are changes that threaten a world that is unstable, unsustainable and unfair
unless we act. And this new gathering of forces - - The ascent
of new economic leaders
- The increasing movement of people
- The
rise of fragile states and non-state terrorism
- The growing global development
emergency
- The relentless competition for the world's natural resources
All
these changes force us to delineate the framework not so much of a new order already
made but a new order that seems permanently in the making. And the real
issue is whether in this new world characterised by the interdependence of once
separate individuals, cultures and traditions - and characterised also by people
no longer isolated, now mobilised and driving change- we can, on the basis of
shared values, transform a global collection of states into a global community
of shared interests and destinies of a truly global society. 300 years ago
John Donne said `no man is an island... Any mans death diminishes me because I
am involved in mankind'. He was writing in defiance of a world and time which
had more reason to think of itself just as individuals pursuing their own ends.
As he suggested, in the world of 2008, our self-interest and our shared interest
should be seen as one and the same. And just as in my view the nature of
both our greatest possibilities and problems - from the economy to security to
the environment - is trans-national, so the solutions must transcend borders.
Only with international institutions that promote cooperation out of shared interest
and predictability and accountability, can large numbers of states consistently
work together to the benefit of all. But to succeed now, the post-war rules
of the game and the post-war international institutions - fit for the cold war
and a world of just 50 states - must be radically reformed to fit our world of
globalisation -- with 200 states, an emerging single marketplace, unprecedented
individual autonomy, and the increasing power of informal networks. Our
inspiration should be the great achievement of the post 1945 era - the visionaries
who built out of the ruins of war for their time and for their generation not
simply a new military and political settlement that guaranteed peace but also
- with the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations - new rules and institutions
for an international economy and community. These great visionaries, the
architects of the post-war world understood, as we now do, that like peace, prosperity
was indivisible - that to be sustained it had to be shared; and that to achieve
this goal would require public purpose and international action on a global scale. And
such was the break with a past of protectionism and isolationism, that Dean Acheson
recalled that he had been present at the creation. Today our ideals should
be as powerful, our vision as comprehensive, our determination truly global. The
task ahead is to agree for our new time the rules that can make globalisation
a force for hope and progress for people from Birmingham to Bangalore. And to
make these global rules work we need global rules work we need global institutions
that recognise: - The need for prosperity to underpin peace;
- The
need to tackle global poverty and protect the environment;
- And the need
to deal with the areas of disorder and the agents of terrorism.
And
let me say at the outset that we can and must do more to make our global institutions
more representative----and I support India's bid for a permanent place - with
others on an expanded United Nations Security Council. And I support changes to
the IMF, World Bank and the G8 that reflect the rise of India and Asia. Climate
change First, we must consider reform of our international rules and institutions
to reflect the urgency of tackling global poverty and climate change. So
as we move from the important breakthrough at Bali last month towards a post 2012
global climate agreement, we must devise a framework that benefits the world's
poor as well as its developed and emerging nations. Finding a low carbon
path to growth should also be seen as an opportunity ---- both to innovate and
market new technologies, and by reducing their costs and sharing them - not least
through a global carbon market - enabling developing countries to leapfrog the
already industrializing countries and move straight to a cleaner future. And
there is also an urgent need for financing of environmentally sustainable development.
So while we strengthen the World Bank's focus on poverty reduction, its capacity
and global reach should make it also a bank for the environment---ensuring that
its development programmes provide an integrated approach to both poverty eradication
and climate change. I propose as a first stage - building on Britain's new
$1.6 billion international environmental transformation fund - the creation of
a global climate change fund: a multi-billion pound fund operating within the
World Bank Clean Energy Investment Framework that will finance low carbon investment,
sustainable forestry programmes, adaptation and climate-resilient development
in the poorest countries. My vision: a new international framework for providing
climate change assistance from the developed to the developing world -- a change
which can reduce environmental degradation and increase prosperity for all. prosperity The
second major imperative for reform of our international rules and institutions
is that we find new ways of dealing with global economic turbulence. The
IMF and World Bank were created for the age of sheltered nation states. But they
now have to change to become properly equipped for a world where national problems
can quickly become global - and contagion can move as swiftly as the fastest communication. After
the Asian crisis, we set up the financial stability forum to better understand
financial markets and their interactions. A new international regime of
standards and codes was put in place. And we have recognised the imperative
of more credible and accurate advice from the IMF to support sound policy-making
and avert future crisis. With financial markets and flows transformed by
globalisation, I propose that the IMF - acting with the same independence as a
central bank - should focus on surveillance of the global economic and financial
system and thus prevent crises not just resolve them. In a wide role: the
IMF - working with the Financial Stability Forum - should be at the heart of an
early warning system for financial turbulence affecting the global economy. And
because a lesson from previous crises was that healthy economies can benefit from
the surety of support against contagion, the IMF should look to develop a financial
instrument able to provide insurance to well managed economies against sudden
reversals of capital flows. And we should examine the respective roles of
the IMF and World Bank in low-income countries so that their work is properly
strengthened and integrated. Conflict The world is not currently equipped
to respond as we must to the spread of weapons of mass destruction; the rise of
non-state terrorism; the threat to civilians during conflict and from genocide;
and the need to rapidly underpin peace with support for reconstruction. So it
is time to set a new and ambitious agenda to prevent conflict and to stabilise
and reconstruct failing and failed states. Facing serious challenges from
Iran and North Korea, we must send a powerful signal to all members of the international
community that the race for more and bigger stockpiles of nuclear destruction
is over. The expiration of the remaining US-Russia arms control deals, the
continued existence of large arsenals, and the stalemates on a fissile material
cut-off treaty and the comprehensive test ban treaty must all be addressed. Britain
is prepared to utilise our expertise to help determine the requirements for the
verifiable elimination of nuclear warheads. And I pledge that in the run-up to
the non-proliferation treaty review conference in 2010 we will be at the forefront
of the international campaign to accelerate disarmament among possessor states,
to prevent proliferation -- and to ultimately achieve a world free from nuclear
weapons. Around the world we are already seeing significant new interest
in nuclear power as a source of energy supply and this increased interest brings
with it increased risks of proliferation. So Britain will press for early agreement
to a new IAEA-led international system to help non-nuclear states acquire the
new sources of energy they need, including through an enrichment bond. But this
offer must be made only in return for firm commitments to the highest non-proliferation
standards. And because the threatened proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
is now compounded by the continuing proliferation of conventional weapons - with
one person being killed every minute from small arms - Britain will also work
internationally to achieve a global arms trade treaty. There is no excuse
that justifies terrorism, no cause that sanctifies it, no way to appease it. And
our task is to defeat it - not only in our own countries, but as an international
community. So Britain and India will continue to stand together - in the
words of your Prime Minister - in a `coherent global effort with shared perspectives
and commitments to combat terrorism wherever and whenever such attacks take place'.
And to ensure that there is no hiding place for terrorists, I propose all countries
strengthen networks of global law enforcement authorities, intelligence agents,
police and financial regulators. I also propose we now strengthen our collective
efforts to prevent and respond to breakdowns of states and societies. The
idea of `responsibility to protect' - reaffirmed at the 2005 world summit of the
UN, and subsequently be the security council - recognised that where populations
are being threatened by genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes or crimes against
humanity - and the state is either unwilling or unable to halt or prevent it despite
prior or early warnings - the responsibility to act falls to the international
community. And this includes building the capacity of vulnerable nations
to prevent conflict - equipping them to uphold the rule of law and human rights,
encouraging civil society, training police and security forces. Today the
international community has no concerted mechanism to support regional peacekeeping
bodies including that of the African Union, meaning that deployment can be slow
when problems occur. And there is limited value in military action to end fighting
if law and order does not follow. Indeed, there is no surer way of bringing people
together and preventing them from returning to conflict than giving them a stake
in the peace. So we must do more to ensure rapid reconstruction on the ground
once conflicts are over - and combine traditional peacekeeping with stabilisation,
recovery and development. I propose: - that UN Security Council
resolutions which authorise peacekeeping missions should also kick start stabilisation
and reconstruction;
- that one envoy should be given authority for coordinating
peacekeeping and recovery in immediate post conflict periods;
- that bringing
together, for example, British police, Australian judges, German lawyers and so
on, we constitute rapid response teams of judges, police, trainers and other civilian
experts who can work on the ground to help put countries on the road to economic
recovery and political stability;
- and that we constitute a new UN crisis
prevention and recovery fund to provide immediate support for reconstruction and
I will be asking United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to launch an appeal
to raise the new funds to which Britain will contribute.
Global Society Finally
and fundamentally, we must recognise in the modern world the place and power of
the media, the private sector, civil society, faith groups and the world wide
web as drivers of what the world will become - and we must respond accordingly. People
now have more access to knowledge and more ability to communicate with others
than ever before in history, more pathways to send their views, more ways not
just to know what is happening, even in a country of censorship, but to demand
change - and critically the power to be heard across the world as the technology
of truth constantly outpaces the tools of repression. Anyone on a mobile
telephone or on the internet or able to send email or set up a web site is now
part of the shaping of this new world - a world where we can rightly today talk
not just of the wealth of nations, but of the wealth of networks - a form of wealth
shared more widely than ever before. And I believe that at a time when power
is more dispersed than ever before, with more literate, more demanding populations
and the global reach of companies, Britain's influence - and India's - will come
through our joint values and ideals, and our commitment to foster and promote
progressive coalitions of democracies and civic societies. Make Poverty
History, and before that the debt campaign Jubilee 2000, showed the potential
of broad movements for change. The alliance of faith, NGO and other groups was
decisive in mobilising millions around the world. We were proud to stand with
them, to be pushed by them, to hear their voices and heed their call. But
we now need to go further - calling into being, beyond governments alone, a sustained
global partnership for development - harnessing not just public will and resources,
but the energy, the ideas and the talents of the private sector, consumers, NGOs
and faith groups, and people everywhere. And I am pleased that Prime Minister
Singh has signed up to the Call to Action on the Millennium Development Goals
- committing his Government, and Indian society, to work to make 2008 a turning
point in the fight against poverty. Conclusion So today I have set
out some proposals for the way forward: not a uniform multilateralism but a diverse
and rich multilateralism. A new global society founded in many international institutions
but grounded in rules we share in common. I do not envisage a new world
founded on the narrow and conventional idea of isolated states pursuing their
own selfish interests - this would be at best a new world order that falls short
of our best possibilities and leaves us all potentially vulnerable. Instead
I see a world that harnesses for the common good the growing interdependence of
nations, cultures and peoples - a new global society. I believe that only
in this way can globalisation become what it should be: a force for justice on
a global scale. And I also believe that India and Britain, with our heritage
of democracy and our record of progress in a globalised era, can be leaders in
securing and shaping this new global society. I look forward to working with you
and your government on transforming ideas into real change in the months and years
ahead. Because we have seen the conflicts that can be resolved; the climate
change impacts that can be tackled; the financial turbulence that can be addressed,
this is an urgent task. And when the need is so pressing, when it is our
generation that has made historic pledges, when the time to meet them is now short,
the simple question we must ask are those put by an American President:
`if not now, when?
if not us, who?
If not together, how?' And
the answer must be to resolve to live to the timeless call of mahatma Gandhi -
that `the future depends on what we do in the present'. `We must be the change
we seek to see in the world' Ends | 
