The Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley delivered his keynote address on the second day of the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Iran’s capital Tehran.
Speaking at the summit, Lyonchhen said while peace may be understood as the absence of conflict, lasting peace is possible only when the very causes of conflict are nonexistent. “Unfortunately, ours is a world where the causes for conflict abound with growing diversity and intensity not because they are inevitable but because we speak more of peace and care less for it.”
Through fierce and unfair competition for material gain, Lyonchhoen said precious relationships that hold together the bricks of society are sacrificed. “There can be no gains at the cost of others in our interdependent world. We prosper or suffer together.”
Lyonchhen also said financial and economic systems are falling apart and states are failing. Socially, families and communities are disintegrating to produce increasing crimes, loneliness and mental diseases. He said it is ironic that material progress and economic gains come at the cost of human security and threaten the very survival on the planet.
The summit saw hundreds of officials from 120 member states, 17 observer states, invited guest countries and organisations.
The Summit was preceded by the Ministerial Meeting of the Foreign Ministers and the Senior Officials meeting.
Lyonchhen is accompanied by the Minister-in-Charge for Foreign Affairs, Khandu Wangchuk, Cabinet Secretary Dasho Penden Wangchuk, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the United Nations in Geneva, Daw Penjo, and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the sidelines of the summit, Lyonchhen also met with several Heads of States and delegation leaders and discussed issues of mutual interest and Bhutan’s candidature for non permanent membership in the UN Security Council.
