NEW DELHI: A British endorsement of India's bid to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council may not have set hearts a-flutter on Monday, but Gordon Brown's suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar had a strong case for knighthood certainly did.
Answering questions after his talks with PM Manmohan Singh, the British PM said international problems could not be solved if India wasn't at the high table. Making a strong case for India's candidature as well as a reform of global institutions - which is now his theme - Brown and Singh said they were engaged in an "essay in persuasion" with the rest of the world.
But all this was overshadowed by Brown's hope at the joint press conference that Sachin Tendulkar could actually be knighted. Brown really has little hand in actually delivering the honour since it's an independent committee, but the prospect was decidedly alluring.
Taking a strategic partnership forward, India and UK decided to work together on a host of international fields, while in the bilateral arena, the focus was more on education and infrastructure development that the two countries will work on.
A comprehensive joint statement at the end of Brown's visit touched upon the Middle East crisis and Myanmar, while refraining from mentioning Pakistan.
The statement also reflected Brown's proposal to reform international institutions, counter terrorism, etc. Earlier in the day, Brown told reporters after a ceremonial welcome, "I am happy to be here to celebrate, what I call, partnership of equals with modern, confident 21st century India."
In what is billed as a major policy speech, the British PM called for a transformation of the world's major institutions - which reflected the realities of 1945. The UN, World Bank and IMF had to be radically reformed, he said to a high-powered group of industrialists.
"I see a world that harnesses for the common good the growing inter-dependence of nations, cultures and peoples - a new global society," he said.
While repeating British support to India's membership in the UN Security Council, he also asked the IMF to become a bank that could set up early warning systems against financial crises. In his wide-ranging speech, where Brown tried to put his own stamp on British foreign policy, he proposed turning the IMF into an independent watchdog.
"I propose that the IMF should act with the same kind of independence as a central bank in a national country," he said. "It should make its focus the surveillance of the global economic and financial system.
Its role should be to prevent crises and not simply to manage or resolve them as in the past," said Brown, nearing the end of a four-day trip to China and India.
"The IMF, working with the global Financial Stability Forum, should be at the heart of...an early warning system, involving regulators and supervisors in all countries, for financial turbulence affecting the global economy," he added.
Interestingly, Brown's remarks came on a day when the Indian stock market tumbled by 1,408.35 points - the biggest single-day loss - shaving off over Rs 6 trillion from investors' wealth on concerns of US slowdown enveloping the global economy.
In the context of Iran's looming nuclear crisis and a growing demand for nuclear energy by non-nuclear countries, Brown said he would press for an IAEA-led international system which could give nuclear energy to countries that needed it, against "the highest benchmarks of proliferation".
"So Britain will press for early agreement to a new IAEA-led international system to help non-nuclear states acquire the new sources of energy they need, including through an enrichment bond," he said.
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