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Tensions are elevated in South Asia: UN Sec. Gen

MANHATTAN: The 74th session of the UN General Assembly began here today.

UNGA 1UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opening the first day of UNGA debate warned that the world was in a state of disquiet: “Tensions are elevated in South Asia, where differences need to be addressed through dialogue.”

Antonio Guterres said: “Many situations remain unresolved, Yemen to Libya to Afghanistan and beyond. A succession of unilateral actions threatens to torpedo a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine,” he said, noting that in Venezuela, four million people have fled the country — one of the largest displacements in the world. We face the alarming possibility of armed conflict in the Gulf, the consequences of which the world cannot afford.

“The recent attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities was totally unacceptable. In a context where a minor miscalculation can lead to a major confrontation, we must do everything possible to push for reason and restraint. I hope for a future in which all the countries of the region can live in a state of mutual respect and cooperation, without interference in the affairs of others – and I hope equally that it will still be possible to preserve the progress on nuclear nonproliferation represented by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“A great many people fear getting trampled, thwarted or left behind. Machines take their jobs, traffickers take their dignity, demagogues take their rights, warlords take their lives, fossil fuels take their futures and yet people believe in the spirits and ideas that bring us to this hall. They believe in the United Nations … and we the leaders must deliver for we the peoples.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his state of the world address to UNGA said that there was a looming risk of the world splitting in two with the two largest economies (US & China) creating rival internets, currencies, financial rules and their own zero-sum geopolitical and military strategies.

Antonio Guterres held that the risk might not yet be large, but it was real. He stressed on the importance of doing everything possible to avert the ‘Great Fracture’ and maintain a universal economy in multi-polar world. UN Secretary-General also warned of an impeding crisis, spreading insecurity and rising disparity.

US President Donald Trump grasped at the occasion to criticize Iran and China. Trump stated that no country should support Tehran’s blood lust: “One of the greatest security threats facing peace-loving nations today is the repressive regime in Iran. The regime’s record of death and destruction is well known to us all.

“Not only is Iran the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, but Iran’s leaders are fueling the tragic wars in both Syria and Yemen, and at the same time the regime is squandering the nation’s wealth and future in a fanatical quest for nuclear weapons,” Trump held.

Terming Chinese trade practices unfair Donald Trump said: “It has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation … forced technology transfers and the theft of intellectual property, and also trade secrets on a grand scale.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking participating in the debate held that nuclear power should either be free for all states or banned completely. Warning that the inequality between states who had nuclear power and who did not undermine global balances he maintained: “The position of nuclear power should either be forbidden for all or permissible for everyone.”

Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani denouncing the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Arab territories in general held: “The ensuing unlawful practices and, in particular, expansion of settlements, Judaisation of the city of Jerusalem, unjust and strangling blockade of the Gaza strip and intensification of settlement activity in the Syrian Golan heights are happening in overt defiance to the UN and its resolutions.”

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called for end of Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab lands, a permanent peace based on justice, establishment of the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in his speech opined that a concerted effort was required to prevent armed groups taking control of Libya and to stop external actors from intervening. He held that the oil-producing North African state needed to be saved from the ensuing chaos by militias. 

President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro said that rain forest was his country’s sovereign territory: “It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind, and a misconception confirmed by scientists to say that our Amazon forests are the lungs of the world. The Amazon is not being devastated, nor is it being consumed by fire, as the media says.”

It is pertinent to mention here that President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has come under criticism globally for wildfires that are raging in the Amazon. ؐٓMoreover, theme of the 74th session’s general debate is galvanizing multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion.

The general debate is taking place from today (24th day of September) till 30th day of September, with dozens of world leaders, including Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan,  are scheduled to address the General Assembly.

[Earlier Secretary-General told that 77 countries  had committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, although those countries together produce less than half the world’s CO2 emissions. While one third of the world’s banking sector have signed up to green goals, seventy nations promised to do more in order to contain climate change, 100 business leaders pledged to join the green economy. Reiterating his appeal not to build new coal plants next hear Secretary-General noted that a large number of coal power plants that were scheduled to be built was a looming threat. Still, the large number of coal power plants that are scheduled to be built is “a looming threat,” Guterres said, repeating his call for no new coal plants to be built after next year.]

 

M M Alam

M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career four decades ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.