Austerity Dilemma
The French government’s 2025 budget proposal, which aims to implement 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes, has sparked widespread debate across the political spectrum.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu sought support for multilateralism to resolve present-day conflicts at the recent Paris Peace Forum organised by the French Government to commemorate the centenary of the World War I armistice.
Sharing details of his interactions at the peace forum, Naidu told media on Monday that imperialistic ambitions of the first World War were now replaced by new challenges. Global leaders expressed concern that new walls of separation in the form of protectionism were being created, he said.
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He told the discussions that in the present world order, national agendas should merge to form the global agenda for action so that citizens all across the world benefit equally. “This approach helps in breaking the walls of protectionism that stand to threaten multilateralism,” he said.
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Last evening, the vice-president participated at a high-level “dialogue of continents on global governance” focusing on multilateralism, international institutions and global governance challenges and the means to craft sustainable peace.
Since the days of ancient civilization, he told the leaders, India believed in the principle of vasudhaiva kutumbakam which means the world is one family. He recalled that thousands of brave Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives 100 years ago fighting for the cause of righteousness and the interest of peace, human liberty and freedom.
“I asserted the need to guide the world on the path of collective endeavor for collective benefit,” he said. The modern-day battles are for markets, and the effective integration of global markets through multilateralism is the battle of the present times, he said.
The vice-president, who inaugurated the Indian War Memorial at Villers Guislain in France told global leaders that free flow of capital and human resources held the key for the betterment of humanity. “I raised the issue of economic offences and economic fugitives that requires a global consensus and action, especially to make extradition easy,” he said.
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