New Delhi Summit of BRICS Shows The Way Forward To Avoid The Impending World War

Dr Cyriac Maprayil

LONDON Oct 4: V.K Krishna Menon was the leader of the Indian delegation to the UN for about 10 years from 1952. Nehru-Menon doctrine of preserving and protecting international peace in the context of the threat posed by nuclear weapons, India advocated and promoted the Non-Alignment policy, a policy adopted by many other developing and newly emerging independent republics. Non-alignment, of course, was not to be confused with some form of neutrality vis-a-vis conflicts endangering world peace.

India was vindicated and ironically the very nations who were critical of non-alignment, particularly the United States and Great Britain, had to seek India’s help in the resolution of the serious and dangerous conflicts that arose in Egypt (Suez), Korea, Indochina etc.

It was Krishna-Menon and Nehru of India along with Tito of the then Yugoslavia, Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia and Nkrumah of Ghana that launched the Non-Alignment movement which brought a healing touch to international relations at the height of the Cold War preventing the break out of a third world war.

Presently, the world is drastically polarised and the UN Security Council has become not only practically ineffective since they failed to have a cohesive stand on issues but also in many ways counter-productive. It is only the UN General Council that is in a position to act decisively to try to revive the UN Security Council and forestall possibly another world war since the UN Charter provides the foundation for the maintenance of international peace and security.

BRICS group of nations with its New Delhi Declaration is showing the world the right path for the UN General Council. The following excerpts from the New Delhi Declaration are particularly note-worthy. “We condemn the imposition of unilateral coercive measures that are contrary to international law and reiterate that such measures, inter alia in the form of unilateral and economic sanctions, have far-reaching negative implications for human rights… We call for the elimination of such unlawful measures, which undermine international law and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter” and “We underscore that security among all countries is indivisible and reiterate our commitment to the peaceful resolution of international disputes through dialogue, consultation and diplomacy.”

Decades ago Menon and Nehru proved that dialogue and restraint can resolve international conflicts. The New Delhi Summit has revived this approach of easing world tension through dialogue and restraint. The UN General Council should proceed in that direction.

The views and opinion are of the author. For further information email the author drdrcyriac@yahoo.co.uk