Iran Press/America: In a statement at the Forty-fifth Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China in New York on Monday, Majid Takht-Ravanchi said that "as we commemorate the 55th anniversary of the adoption of the Charter of Algiers, we should continue to remain "united by common aspirations and the identity of our economic interests", and also "stay determined to pursue our joint efforts towards economic and social development, peace and prosperity".
He added, "The Group of 77 and China as the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the United Nations, provides the means for the developing countries to articulate and promote their collective interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the United Nations system. Now, after close to 6 decades of its establishment, our Group, despite the many obstacles and challenges it has faced, has demonstrated strong leadership throughout these years and proven that international cooperation is the only way to preserve our shared values and address the common challenges that lay in front of us."
"Although the form of the challenges we face today has changed compared to those during the early years of the establishment of our group, their nature has remained the same and the only way to counter those challenges is to resort to multilateralism," Takht-Ravanchi stated.
The Iranian diplomat went on to say, "COVID-19 –as a wake-up call for the whole world- reminds us once again that the development, welfare, and prosperity of all human beings are interconnected and interdependent. However, as the entire world continues to work together to contain the Covid-19, we witness that the US continues to impose unilateral coercive measures, including illegal economic sanctions, on a number of countries including those that are greatly suffering from the grave consequences of the pandemic. These illegal acts, on the one hand, and the lack of decisive action on the part of the international community to counter them, on the other, have turned the pivotal ideal of sustainable development, namely ‘no one should be left behind, into a purely decorative and meaningless claim."
"We believe that international crises and challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and unilateralism, cannot be defeated without a genuine collective response and joint efforts of all countries under the auspices of multilateralism, cooperation, and solidarity and in conformity with the spirit of international collective coordination. This is what the G77 is all about," he concluded.
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