Page 2 - United Nations Security Council

As member, India made every effort to bridge different voices: UN envoy

During its two-year tenure as elected member of the Security Council, India made every effort to bridge different voices within the UN body and the country will bring the "same spirit" as it presides over the Council in December, India's envoy here Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said on Thursday. India on Thursday assumed the monthly rotating Presidency of the Security Council, the second time after August 2021 that India is presiding over the Council during its two-year tenure as elected UNSC member. India's 2021-2022 term on the Council ends on December 31, with Kamboj, India's first woman Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York sitting in the President's seat at the powerful horseshoe table for the month. "Over the last two years of our membership of the Council, I can say with confidence that we have been shouldering responsibilities well, and making every effort to bridge the different voices within the Council so as to ensure that the Council itself speaks in one

India's UN permanent representative meets General Assembly president

As India prepares to assume the presidency of the Security Council this week, India's Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj has met with General Assembly President Csaba Korosi

Counter-terrorism, multilateralism India's key focus during UNSC presidency

Countering terrorism and reformed multilateralism will be among the key priorities for India as it assumes the monthly presidency of the UN Security Council from December 1, culminating its two-year tenure as non-permanent member of the 15-nation powerful body. According to the UNSC rules of procedure, the Council presidency rotates between each of the 15 members of the UNSC, in alphabetical order. For us, in the December Presidency, our priorities will be countering terrorism for which we have very successfully built a good narrative in these past few months as well as a focus on reformed multilateralism, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj told PTI in an exclusive interview here. India assumes the monthly rotating presidency of the Security Council from December 1, the second time after August 2021 that the country will preside over the Council during its two year tenure as elected UNSC member. India's 2021-2022 term on the Council ends December 3

Beyond Bali

India's presidency must make G20 more relevant

Russia calls vote on unfounded Ukraine biological weapons claims at UNSC

The UN Security Council scheduled a vote on Wednesday on a resolution that would establish a commission to investigate unfounded Russian claims that Ukraine and the United States are carrying out military biologcal" activities that violate the convention prohibiting the use of biological weapons. Russia circulated a 310-page document to council members last week alleging that this biological activity is taking place in Ukraine with support from the US Defense Department. The document included an official complaint to the Security Council, allowed under Article VI of the 1972 biological weapons convention, and a draft resolution that would authorize the Security Council to set up a commission comprising the 15 council members to investigate Russia's claims. Russia's initial allegation of secret American biological warfare labs in Ukraine, made soon after its February 24 invasion of its smaller neighbour, has been disputed by independent scientists, Ukrainian leaders and officials at

Looking forward to key two-day UNSC counter-terrorism meet in India: US

Ahead of the 2-day UNSC counter-terrorism conference to be hosted by India, the US has described it as an important meeting to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries to combat the global menace. India for the first time will be hosting the special meeting of the United Nations Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) which will discuss the overarching theme of Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes'. Senior American diplomat Chris Lu is set to visit India as the head of the US delegation which will attend the meeting in Mumbai and New Delhi from October 28-29. Ahead of the key meeting, Lu, the US Representative for UN Management and Reform tweeted, "Looking forward to representing @USUN at this important #UN counter-terrorism convening, as well as strengthening the ties between the US and India." "Ambassador Lu will address issues of counterterrorism, as well as the important relationship between the two countries," the .

UNSC to vote on resolution against Russia's illegal referendum in Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a vote for Friday afternoon on a resolution that would condemn Russia for its illegal so-called referenda in four Ukrainian regions and declare that they have no validity. The US- and Albanian-sponsored resolution would call on all countries not to recognise any alterations to the status of Ukraine's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It would reaffirm the UN commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence within its internationally recognised borders. The Kremlin has announced plans to move on annexing Russian-controlled areas of the four regions on Friday, and Russia is certain to veto the resolution. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this week that if that happens the US and Albania will put the resolution to a vote in the 193-member General Assembly where there are no vetoes. The draft resolution, obtained late on Thursday by The Associated Press, would order Russia

Need for UN Security Council reform cannot be denied forever: Jaishankar

The need to reform the UN Security Council cannot be denied forever, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said even as he noted that India never believed that this will be an easy process. Currently, UNSC has five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. India is among the ten non-permanent members of the body. Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution. India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the security council, saying it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member. We have, we have never thought that it was an easy process. But we do believe that the need for reform cannot be denied forever, Jaishankar told a group of Indian journalists here on Wednesday. He was responding to a question on the seriousness on the part of the US on reforming the Security Council. My understanding is that the position that President (Joe) Biden put forward, is the most explicit and specific articulation of th

India, Brazil support each other's candidacy at UNSC: Brazilian envoy

India, Brazil support each other's candidacy at UNSC, said Brazilian envoy

UN Security Council should be more inclusive: US Secretary Antony Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Tuesday stressed the need for making the United Nations Security Council more inclusive. "We recognize that to meet the challenges we face, members of the UN must not only uphold the charter, but also modernise the institution, including by making the Security Council more inclusive," Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference with visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. "That's why, in his address to the General Assembly, President (Joe) Biden expressed his support for increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Security Council, a long-standing goal of India," he said. "This includes permanent seats for those nations we've long supported, and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean," the top American diplomat said. Jaishankar, who arrived in the city from New York wherein he attended the UN General Assembly Sessions, said the reform of the UN is a particularly .

Sri Lanka backs India, Japan's bids for permanent status at UNSC: President

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said his government will back the bids of India and Japan for permanent member status at the UN Security Council. President Wickremesinghe is currently in Japan to attend the state funeral of the former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. During a meeting with Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday, Wickremesinghe "appreciated the support extended by Japan (to Sri Lanka) on the international stage and expressed the government's willingness to support both Japan's and India's campaign to become permanent members of the UN Security Council, the President's office said in a press release. India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the UN body, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st century. At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent mem

EAM Jaishankar meets UN Chief Guterres, discusses global challenges

EAM S Jaishankar met UN chief Antonio Guterres on the margins of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York and discussed global challenges including the Ukraine conflict

Russia's Lavrov backs India for permanent member in UN Security Council

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov backed India for becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.While addressing the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Lavrov said, "We see prospective of making Security Council more democratic via representation of countries from Africa, Asia & Latin America. India and Brazil, in particular, are key international actors and should be counted for permanent membership in the council."While addressing the Assembly, Lavrov accused Western countries of "throwing a fit" over the referendum that is being conducted in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine on becoming a part of their federation.The Russian Foreign Minister said the crises surrounding the war were growing, and the international situation was rapidly deteriorating, but instead of having an honest dialogue and searching for a compromise, the West was "undermining confidence in international institutions" and encouraging negative tendencies within the United Nations as well,

G4 Ministers to strategise UNSC reform as world leaders express support

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his G4 counterparts met to discuss and strategise the reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC)

India among world leaders to join US in seeking UN Security Council reforms

A number of world leaders have joined the United States in seeking reforms in the UN Security Council and including India as one of its permanent members, giving momentum to the demand for expansion of the powerful wing of the United Nations. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed reforming the United Nations, including its security council "to return to the vision and principles of the UN Charter, with the strengthening of the UN's functions, including disarmament and non-proliferation". In his address at the annual session of the UN General Assembly, Portuguese Prime Minister Antnio Costa said, "We need a representative, agile and functional security council that can respond to the challenges of the 21st century without becoming paralysed, and whose actions are scrutinized by other members of the United Nations." Costa sought a security council that incorporates a comprehensive view of security, recognising the role of climate change as an accelerant of conflict. Observin

US calls on world to stop Russia from further nuclear threats, Ukraine war

The United States called on other nations to tell Russia to stop making nuclear threats and end the horror of its war in Ukraine as all three countries' top diplomats spoke but didn't quite meet at a high-profile UN Security Council meeting on Thursday. Held alongside the annual UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders, the session followed a striking development in the war this week: Russia called up a portion of its reserves for the first time since World War II. At the same time, President Vladimir Putin said his nuclear-armed country will use all means available to us to defend itself if its territory is threatened. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saw Putin's remark as particularly menacing given plans for referendums in Russian-controlled parts of eastern and southern Ukraine on whether to become part of Russia. Western nations have condemned those votes as illegitimate and nonbinding. But, in their wake, Moscow might then see any Ukrainian attempt to retake those

Lavrov walks out of UNSC meeting as West criticizes Russia for war crimes

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was criticized by the US and its allies for having left the UNSC meeting as he finished his speech in which he accused Ukrainian forces

Critical to revisit UNSC's peacekeeping approach, address challenges: India

Underlining that UN peacekeeping has become increasingly challenging in face of growing violence across conflict hotspots, India has called for reassessing the Security Council's approach towards peacekeeping and to address operational and other challenges faced by these operations. Today, UN peacekeeping is becoming increasingly challenging in the face of growing violence across conflict theaters, with a diminishing focus on the political process, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said while addressing the UNSC briefing on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations on Tuesday. She said that it is critical to reassess the Council's approach towards peacekeeping as well as to address the security and operational challenges faced by peace operations. India is one of the largest troop and police contributors, with more than 5,700 Indian peacekeepers presently deployed in 9 out of 12 peacekeeping missions. Underlining that India's peacekeeping credentials

US requests UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine for Sept 7: French envoy

The United States has requested a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine to be held in the afternoon on September 7, the French Ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere said

UN Security Council renews travel ban, asset freeze under Mali sanctions

"The situation in Mali continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region," the Council said on Tuesday in the resolution