- Rubio highlights international system's failure to address global conflicts.
- US faces criticism for unresolved Iran war amidst global system talks.
- India denies US claims of mediating its conflict with Pakistan.
New York/New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that it “would be great” if a functional international system existed to address potential conflicts worldwide, including those between India and Pakistan. However, he did not mention how the Iran conflict would be resolved, as it is entering its seventh month and has directly jeopardised the global economy. In fact, US President Donald Trump has openly warned that Iran would be eliminated if Tehran does not negotiate well with America. Ironically, the US President issued the stark warning from the dais of the United Nations General Assembly—a global platform that every democratic nation uses for raising its issues. "Shut your Iran war down first, pliz (please)," prominent journalist Stanly Johny wrote on X.
Shut your Iran war down first, pliz. https://t.co/04uLz2B1nH
— Stanly Johny (@johnstanly) September 23, 2026
What Rubio said on broken global system
"We see the utility in the international system. We're here...I think the President has said that the United Nations, for example, has tremendous potential, but it's not living up to it...," Rubio told reporters. "I think multiple leaders...pointed to the fact that the international system is failing, and it's failing because it has grown beyond its mandate. It has grown beyond its intent. It's involved in all kinds of things that it shouldn't be involved in, and it's unable to solve virtually any major conflict in the world," he said.
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Rubio's pitch to ease India-Pakistan issue
The top US diplomat said there's "unanimity and consensus" at the high-level UNGA week that the international system is broken. "But it's broken because it broke itself. It needs to be brought back to its proper focus and its proper role. It would be great if we had a functional international system, for example, that could deal with a war between Thailand and Cambodia that occurred, or a potential conflict between India and Pakistan...Right now, we don't seem to have a functional international system that can address it," he said.
US' irony: Will put national interests first
Rubio added that in the absence of that, nation-states will act in their national interest. "I want to be clear because this is not an attack on the international system. But at the end of the day, the US will always act, at least as long as President Trump is in office; we will always act in the national interest of our country, not in the interest of the international order. We will never put the international order above the interest of the United States," Rubio said. Ironically, when India states the same sentence to address its energy imports dilemma regarding Russian oil, it gets a warning of a 100 per cent tariff.
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His remarks came a day after Trump repeated his claim that he settled the war between India and Pakistan last year, among the eight conflicts he ended, as he addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly here.
Trump has consistently claimed credit for stopping the conflict between India and Pakistan, an assertion he has repeated since May 10 last year when he announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after a "long night" of talks mediated by Washington.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. India has denied any third-party intervention.
(With inputs from agencies)