HARARE: India sought to bridge the widening North South divide at the commonwealth summit here Thursday with Britain and other leading western nations making a bit do link foreign aid to human rights and democratic reforms, PTI reports.
Playing a moderate role, India supported the importance being given to strengthening of democratic structures and human rights opposed primacy to them over development of the third world.”
Narasimha Rao, a lead speaker on the global political situation, insisted that primacy be given to development of poor countries though India had all along stood for strengthening democratic in situations.”
Aided by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other developed members of the 50nation com Mon wealth, Britain turned the 11th commonwealth summit upside down taking the unusual step of submitting an alternative draft Harare declaration to the surprise of Afro-Asian members.
Britain succeeded in blocking the original draft Harare declaration prepared at the initiative of the hast country, Zimbabwe, and pushing its own declaration, Conference sources said officials were trying to prepare a final draft declaration with the British draft as the main document, reconciling it with the propositions in the original draft.
The sources said the British move had met with success with only muted criticism so far from the Afro-Asian members. As many as 46 of the 50-nation common wealth belong to the developing world.
India told Britain, Australia and Canada that they could not afford to ignore the basic needs of the developing countries while making human rights and democratic reforms as a qualifying factor for foreign aid.
Rao took up the controversial issues of human rights and democratic reforms in his submissions as one of the lead speakers at an executive session on the global political situation.
If the commonwealth or for that matter the developed countries were to strengthen democracy and human rights, they would have to find out ways of meeting the development needs of the people of developing countries, Rao said.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 25, 1991
