Syria Reforms

The US is disappointed with the way Russia and to some extent China have been exercising their veto power in the UN Security Council to blunt global efforts for peace in Syria, the White House has said as it underscored the need to reform the powerful wing of the world body.

India today said "inability" of the UN Security Council to prevent emergence of conflicts in various parts of the globe including in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan has underlined the need for its urgent reform.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria needs to start working on a new constitution as a first step to finding a political solution to its civil war, though he acknowledged the process was likely to be difficult.

Russia wants the Syrian government and opposition to agree on launching a constitutional reform process of up to 18 months, followed by early presidential elections, a draft document obtained by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told the president of the European Commission (EC) that the country needed a new deal on Europe, before he presses his case for reforms to the bloc with other national leaders this week.

"We stress that the ongoing effort to increase the lending capacity of the IMF will only be successful if there is confidence that the entire membership of the institution is truly committed to implement the 2010 Reform faithfully,"Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said in a joint declaration after their one-day summit in New Delhi.

Syria's government has endorsed a draft law that it says will allow the formation of political parties alongside President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath Party, part of a series of promised reforms that the opposition has dismissed as largely symbolic.

The US is disappointed with the way Russia and to some extent China have been exercising their veto power in the UN Security Council to blunt global efforts for peace in Syria, the White House has said as it underscored the need to reform the powerful wing of the world body.

India today said "inability" of the UN Security Council to prevent emergence of conflicts in various parts of the globe including in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan has underlined the need for its urgent reform.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Syria needs to start working on a new constitution as a first step to finding a political solution to its civil war, though he acknowledged the process was likely to be difficult.

Russia wants the Syrian government and opposition to agree on launching a constitutional reform process of up to 18 months, followed by early presidential elections, a draft document obtained by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told the president of the European Commission (EC) that the country needed a new deal on Europe, before he presses his case for reforms to the bloc with other national leaders this week.

"We stress that the ongoing effort to increase the lending capacity of the IMF will only be successful if there is confidence that the entire membership of the institution is truly committed to implement the 2010 Reform faithfully,"Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said in a joint declaration after their one-day summit in New Delhi.

Syria's government has endorsed a draft law that it says will allow the formation of political parties alongside President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath Party, part of a series of promised reforms that the opposition has dismissed as largely symbolic.