New Delhi - Managing contradictions within its polity is a challenge for every federal state, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the Fourth International Conference on Federalism that opened in New Delhi on Monday. He also said that in an increasingly globalized world, the concept of absolute sovereignty may soon come into question.
"States may give up some of their rights for the larger benefit of humankind specially when it comes to managing issues such as climate change," he said.
Singh was addressing a gathering of over 1000 delegates ranging from government leaders, administrators, experts and activists taking part in the conference organized by the Canada-based Forum for Federations in partnership with the Indian government.
The three-day conference aims to provide a platform for an exchange of ideas and experiences of officials and activists from federations across the world. About 40 per cent of the world's population today live in federations, according to the forum.
"We have much to learn from the successes and shortcomings of each other's federations," Arnold Koller, former president of Switzerland and currently chairman of the Forum of Federations, said.
Koller acknowledged that each federation was unique with its different cultural, political and economic background. "But over the last century we have more or less made the same mistakes," he said.
Switzerland President Micheline Calmy-Rey, Comoros President Ahmed Abdallah M Sambi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zanawi and Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Jonathan were present at the inaugural ceremony.
Teams from Bosnia, Canada, Germany, Austria, Nepal, Iraq, Malaysia, South Africa, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates were among the countries taking part in the conference which has as its theme "Unity in diversity: learning from each other."
