WASHINGTON:
India is ready to take its place at the global top tables including G-20 and the UN Security Council presidency as the country is willing to bring solutions to the table, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj said on Friday.
During the press briefing, when asked about UNSC reforms and India’s permanent seat at the security council, Kamboj said, “India is ready to take its place at the global top tables as a country that is willing to bring solutions to the table. One of the central tenets of our foreign policy is human-centric and which will remain the same.”
India has been one of the leading voices for the long-standing reforms due in the UNSC, stating that it surely deserves a position at the highest level of the UN as a permanent member. Proposals to restructure the security council which now has five permanent members and ten elected to two-year terms, have been around for over two decades, but have hit a stalemate in the UN General Assembly.
Ambassador Kamboj told reporters that even as the world grapples with a pandemic and multilateralism is under stress, India has emerged on the international stage as a rallying point of hope.
“In the last 2 years when the world was going through a crisis, India has always been there as a solution provider. Like during COVID and more such matters, India is already ready to take its place at the global top table,” she added.
The top Indian diplomat at UN further underscored nations backing India’s long-standing demand, where several nations have called for reforms, making it more representative, inclusive, and transparent.
Talking about the UNSC reforms, Kamboj said that the UN is far from “reflective of the true diversity” of its wider membership. She also said that after 22 years, the world leaders called for comprehensive UNSC reform but the Council has “not moved an inch.” Calling the countries’ favour for UNSC reform a “ray of hope” Kamboj said that during the 77th plenary session, 76 countries favoured UNSC reform and 73 spoke for UN reforms
India, on Thursday, assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of December. It is the second time in its two-year tenure as an elected member of the UN Security Council that India has assumed the Presidency of the Council.
In the special briefing about the UNSC presidency, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN said, “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 reach the different voices within the council so, as to ensure that the Council itself speaks in one voice as far as possible on a variety of issues,” adding “We will bring the same spirit to our December presidency.”
She also said that the focus will be on two major themes, the first one is an all-encompassing theme focused on building a new orientation towards reformed multilateralism and the second one is a “focus on the global counter-terrorism approach and the way forward.”
Giving more details about the schedule of the UNSC presidency, Kamboj said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair two high-level signature events that will take place on December 14-15.
The high-level open debate on the theme – “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism” is scheduled to be held on December 14. The open debate will encourage the UN members to take the conversation forward on reforms in the current multilateral architecture with the UN at its Centre to make it “more representative and fit for purpose.”
On December 15, a high-level briefing on the theme – “Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts: Global Approach to Counter Terrorism – Challenges and Way Forward” will seek to build a consensus on the principles of a global counter-terror architecture. The high-level briefing aims to enhance the Delhi Declaration adopted during the special meeting of the counter-terrorism committee held in October in India.