UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday called for closer global cooperation in tackling the pandemic crisis, denouncing the practice of buck-passing.
"Only collaborative and multilateral solutions will allow us to overcome this crisis and to emerge from it with new strength standing on our feet once again," Pinera said in a statement at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation and governance, and also laid bare the sheer degree of interdependence within the international community, as the virus shows no respect of borders, nationalities or ethnicities.
The current pandemic crisis has demonstrated the urgency of better cooperation between all nations, said Pinera.
The major powers, instead of squaring off against one another on economic and health issues, should be at the forefront of the fight against this global pandemic, as well as at the forefront of the fight to overcome the recession induced by the pandemic, rather than allowing a glaring at alarming leadership vacuum, said the Chilean president.
Pinera said there is also a particular need in terms of leadership for the leaders of this movement to cooperate and collaborate with most vulnerable countries.
He called for nations to see both lessons and opportunities in the midst of the pandemic, pledging that Chile stays committed to cooperating with others to tackle various global challenges.
While the pandemic and the global economic recession have diverted the attention away from climate change and global warming, "our best option is to confront them simultaneously," as the threats of climate change and global warming have not paused, said Pinera.
He also noted the need to "rebuild a multilateral economic order with robust institutions that is respected and upheld by all along, which is based on rules recognized and acknowledged by all."
"The trade war that we're living through today has led to stagnation of international commerce and investment," warned the Chilean president.
It has led to the weakening of free trade, allowed protectionism to emerge, and left the World Trade Organization moribund, he added.
The general debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday with the theme of "The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism -- confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action." Enditem
