UN General Assembly
2001

India, spoke on the first day of the general debate and highlighted concerns that we find it necessary to reiterate. There needs to be a more determined movement towards the liquidation of the external debts of low income and highly indebted countries. There should be poverty alleviation programmes designed for countries facing financial crises, and there should be stabilization of international prices of primary commodity exports. The measures that we have outlined here are essential to building a just and equitable international order. Anything less would simply be the imposition of the will of the powerful upon the pusillanimous. All societies are measured by the way they treat their most vulnerable members, and the international community of nations is no different. I call on all representatives here assembled to heed the plea of the victims and to construct an international order that can lift human civilization to achieve the highest ideals of the United Nations.