United Nations, Sept 22 — External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has urged countries sharing international objectives to act together against threats to choke points and disruptions.
"Where there is a threat of choke points, dominance, and disruption, de-risking and diversifying must be encouraged, and where there is a compelling cause or a powerful case, the like-minded must have the confidence to come together", he said here on Monday at the Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace and Prosperity (P4M) Summit.
He co-chaired the first summit with Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council.
EAM Jaishankar said that now "the global order is under stress" from "extreme competition, geopolitical tensions, and actual conflicts".
He did not name the areas from which threats are emanating -- the Gulf and Ukraine, where conflicts are having a huge impact on countries worldwide.
"If left unchecked, it would call into question the very spirit of international cooperation, and that is why it is so essential that multilateralism asserts itself strongly at this juncture", EAM Jaishankar said.
"At stake here are very real issues, not just words and expressions: the future of peace and international security, of climate action and climate justice, of emerging technologies and development finance, of countering terrorism and strengthening supply chains, and of ensuring disaster resilience and preparing for pandemics, all depend on a will to cooperate", he said.
The world is facing the "4F crises -- of fuel, food, fertiliser, and finance", and this makes "a very powerful case for frameworks and guardrails", he said.
He stressed that this called for "reformed multilateralism" with "more participative deliberations and more transparent decisions".
Strict adherence to international law, rules, and norms, he said, is needed to strengthen multilateralism.
Additionally, EAM Jaishankar met with European Union EU and some Indo-Pacific foreign ministers and discussed cooperation among them to defend the principles of international law.
The External Affairs Minister said on X that he "appreciated meeting my European Union colleagues".
He added that they "discussed India-EU cooperation, multilateral issues and current developments, including in the Gulf, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific".
Some foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific region, including Australia's Penny Wong and South Korea's Cho Hyun, were also at the meeting.