At UN, Rahul speaks up for Indian nuclear agenda, farmer’s welfare

Some 18 years after, his father then as the India Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, gave the famous speech for a nuclear-weapon free world, and five years after his mother Sonia Gandhi as Leader of Opposition, spoke about the global danger of HIV / AIDS, the latest scion of the Gandhi family, Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament has raised the crucial issues of sustainable development and human rights in developing and underdeveloped countries at the United Nations.

In his maiden appearance at the United Nations General Assembly this past week Rahul Gandhi, who is here for more than a week as part of the official Indian delegation, raised his voice to protect the rights of farmers in developing countries. And he did not forget to articulate India’s recent agenda to use nuclear fuel as a clean energy as part of his overall speech on sustainable development.

This was his second speech at the UN on sustainable development on October 25. His first speech on the issue of human rights was on October 18.

“There needs to be a fresh assessment of nuclear energy, as a clean and safe source of energy,” he said, while buttressing that meeting the ever increasing energy needs of the developing world was critical to sustainable development.

“All significant energy sources whether conventional or advanced fossil fuels based, or renewable, or civilian nuclear power must remain in policy reckoning to address energy needs for sustainable development,” he said.

Observing globalization has made farmers of the developing countries more vulnerable than ever, Gandhi argued: “Reducing agricultural tariffs and subsidies is not enough: there must be exceptions to allow developing countries more space to pursue their pro-development strategies and policies aimed at protecting their poor.”

Special and differential treatment for developing countries, to enable them to meet food security, livelihood security and rural development needs, remains a categorical imperative, he stressed.

Gandhi said that globalization is having its own side effects on the developing countries which need to be addressed. ” As a result of globalization, external factors contribute to the success or failure of developing countries to a greater extent than before,” he said.

Developing countries, Gandhi felt are caught between intellectual property rights and trade regimes. This along with the conditionalities imposed by the World Bank and IMF, erode their autonomy and flexibility, he argued. “These countries need that autonomy and flexibility to evolve policies and strategies for economic growth and sustainable development, which is so critical to eradicating poverty and achieving Millennium Development Goals,” he said.

### HUMAN RIGHTS

Making his maiden address at the UN on October 18, Gandhi selected the issue of human rights, wherein he urged the developed world to make a candid introspection of their role and responsibilities in protecting human rights.

Arguing that a major challenge facing today is the need to move away from “selectivity, double-standards and partial approaches” in dealing with promotion and protection of human rights, Gandhi said: “We need an honest, self-critical appraisal of whether the international community has managed to achieve a genuine improvement in human rights through giving of ‘report cards’ or by intrusive monitoring.”

Gandhi asked the world body: “Have countries been persuaded to improve their record of human rights simply because resolutions against them have been adopted year after year in the General Assembly? On the other hand, would not an approach based on dialogue, consultation and cooperation have a better chance of resulting in genuine improvement in the enjoyment of human rights by the people of a country? We are convinced of the essential validity of the latter approach.”