India has larger role to play in global affairs: Vice President

Tunis, June 3 (IANS Vice President Hamid Ansari on Friday said that India has a much larger role to play in charting a more equitable and sustainable future for the world .

He was addressing the Tunisian Institute of Strategic Studies in Tunis, Tunisia, on the topic 'India and the World'.

"We do believe that as one sixth of the humanity and in keeping with the growing capacities and aspirations of our people, India has a much larger role to play in charting a more equitable and sustainable future for our world," Ansari said.

"For this reason we believe that any global forum which does not include India has limited relevance," he added.

He said that India is not a rejectionist power "that stands outside the global order" but that her interests lie in "working to change, reform and improve" the global order.

Ansari rued that while emerging economies have "secured a role in the global economic system", the Security Council of the United Nations "remains a captive of its five permanent members".

The Vice President said that India had vital stake in the stability, security and economic well-being of West Asia and North African region and was willing to expand its strategic and economic partnership.

Flagging terrorism as an area of common concern, the Vice President said that even as some countries continued to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy, global terrorism had emerged as a principal global challenge and threat to pluralist and open societies.

"International terrorism can only be defeated by organized international action. We have to help each other secure our cyber space, and minimise use of internet and social media for terrorist activities," he said.

Ansari noted that relations between India and Tunisia have been "friendly and free of discord".

"Tunisia can also be a hub for our trade with both Europe and Africa," Ansari said while extending all possible cooperation to the North African nation.

--IANS

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