April 13, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 14, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 12: Support of the world’s sole superpower is important for the UN to succeed, said UN Under Secretary General for Communications and Public Information Dr Shashi Tharoor.

He was delivering a lecture on “Future of the United Nations” organized by the International Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and National University of Science and Technology.

He feared that UN could cease to exist if it opted for opposition to the US policies.

Dr Tharoor, however, said post-Iraq developments indicated that the US had engaged the rest of the UN in a constructive and encouraging partnership.

Discussing the events that followed the US invasion of Iraq, he said the US also needed the support of the UN for opening up dialogues with the local leadership of Iraq, holding of elections and some other initiatives.

The UN official was not very positive about major reforms in the UN in near future as he said the bar on amending the UN charter had been set very high. “We may have to wait long time before we could see some changes.”

Speaking about the performance of the world body that recently completed its sixty year’s of existence, he said: “the UN has never been, and will never be, a perfect body. In the past it has acted unwisely at times, and failed to act at others: one need only think of the safe areas in Bosnia and the genocide in Rwanda for instances of each.”

It has sometimes been too divided to succeed as was the case in Iraq. And all too often, member states have passed resolutions they themselves had no intention of implementing.”

Dr Tharoor said the UN was not only reflective of world’s divisions and disagreements but also mirrored hopes and convictions of the people.

Recalling the successes of the UN, he said imperfect though it certainly is, the UN has achieved an enormous amount in its 61 years. “Most important of all, it prevented the cold war from turning hot, first by providing a roof under which the two superpower adversaries could meet and engage, and second by mounting peacekeeping operations which ensured that local and regional conflicts were contained and did not ignite a global conflagration.”

He also listed peace operations and humanitarian relief efforts as successes of the UN. “Irrespective of the outcome, the people should realise that the UN tried,” he said.

He believed that the UN remained relevant today as it had always been and perhaps more so.

Dr Tharoor said he saw the UN of the future as firmly anchored in its achievements but prepared to transform itself in the light of changing circumstances.

He said the stage had been set for much-needed change, predicated on what we have learned from our efforts to address global problems, and the changes that the world has undergone. He also spoke of the changes taking at the UN, like setting up of Human Rights Council, Peace Building Commission, fund for democracy and reforms in the working of the secretariat.