Usually, when you look around the world, people are killing each other, fighting over scarce resources.

I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really concerned about it, the people will take the lead and make the leaders follow.

We need to ensure the poorest in the planet - who will be hardest hit by the financial crisis - are not forgotten.

The problem is not with the faith, but with the faithful

Having worked my way from the bottom of the ladder to the top [of the UN] certainly helped me navigate that complexity, both political and bureaucratic.

The invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal.

We have seen recently, almost every major head of state goes to India and says, we believe India should be in the Council. They go back home and do nothing about it. But this cannot be sustained for long. If they want to keep the UN as a global forum where they discuss incidents and take some meaningful decisions, they should [reform].