New Delhi, Oct 16: Describing India and South Africa as "strategic partners for all seasons", visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki today said that institutions of global governance needed urgent reforms and that the global crisis in the wake of Iraq war has shaken the very foundations of UN philosophy. "After more than five decades of their existence, it is clear that the institutions of global governance are, in reality, not truly democratic. On this issue there is broad consensus", he said delivering the Alfred Nzo memorial lecture on "India and south - strategic partners for all seasons".
He said there was a broad agreement that these institutions need to undergo urgent reforms so that they could be in a better position to serve the interests of the people -- the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak.
Observing that people of the world have not moved to effect the necessary changes, he said that the enduring and strategic relationship of India and South Africa combine with other efforts of developing countries to accelerate the process of change of these global structures of governance. Bureau Report