In India, Brown to push for new-look UN, World Bank

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown — on his maiden visit to India as the Premier — is expected to make a case for institutional reforms...

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown — on his maiden visit to India as the Premier — is expected to make a case for institutional reforms in the United Nations (UN) and the international financial institutions, during his deliberations in Delhi. It is learnt that Brown is in favour of taking a relook at the role of UN, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the changed global dynamics, burying the ghost of Cold War era in the international political scenario.

Sources said Brown believes that the international institutions built for 50 sheltered economies in the bipolar world are not fit for today’s interdependent world where 200 states with global flows of commerce, people and ideas defy borders. With such transformative change, he feels, there is a need for a UN, IMF and World Bank and even G-8 which are “fit for the 21st century”.

As the first step, the British PM has initiated proposals to reform the UN Security Council (UNSC) — whose permanent members do not include Japan, India, Brazil, Germany, or any African country — and make the Council “more representative, credible and more effective”. Towards this end, he is expected to convey his support to India’s bid for the UNSC seat to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his formal as well as private interactions. He is also in favour of G8 to increasingly broaden to “encompass the influential emerging economies” now outside, but that account for more than one-third of the world’s economic output, in a clear recognition to India’s vibrant economy.

On Sunday, Brown said that he was in India to “celebrate the partnership of equals”, which will grow stronger in the years to come. Describing India and Britain as “two confident 21st century economies”, he said the world’s oldest democracy and the largest democracy are working together for common objectives.