Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday hours after President George Bush spoke at the same forum, he predicted the defeat of American and NATO alliance in Afghanistan and advised the next rulers of the United States to keep "their interference" in their own borders. The people of Afghanistan, he said, are victims of efforts by NATO member states to "dominate the regions surrounding India, China and South Asia."
Russia and Georgia accused each other of triggering the latest conflict in the breakaway South Ossestia province as the United Nations Security Council's emergency session on the issue failed to come out with a statement seeking ceasefire between the warring sides.
Vowing to redouble its efforts to help Afghanistan as a response to the bombing of its embassy in Kabul, India has attacked Pakistan for trying to strike a deal with the local Taliban, saying such bargains "were undermining efforts to defeat terrorists in the war-ravaged country."
India is among 35 United Nations member states that are preparing a draft, which could form the basis for starting inter-governmental negotiations on the reforms of the powerful Security Council including its expansion, diplomats said. The group, which is consulting wider membership as it finetunes the draft, aims to break the logjam in the open-ended working group, which has been discussing the issue since 1994 without achieving any breakthrough.
The envoys of member-nations of the council, which has often condemned human rights violations in member-states, have been very clear that the issue is not likely to come up during the meetings, and some have even questioned whether it posed a threat to international peace and security, a yardstick for council action. The Chinese diplomats said the issue did not come up in the council on Monday, maintaining it does not pose threat to international and peace and security.
India has been elected to the newly established Independent Audit Advisory Committee, a five-member body which is expected to contribute to improving the accountability of the UN Secretariat to the member states.
The council's appeal came in a presidential statement at the end of a day-long discussion on crimes against women.
Concerned over the growing transfer of resources from the poor to rich countries, India has said creation of an economic and financial environment conducive to development is the need of the hour.
India has sought total elimination of nuclear arms backed by a security system in which states do not feel the need to develop, produce or stockpile them.
India has reaffirmed its strong commitment to the Non-Aligned Movement and stressed its "enduring relevance" in the current international situation.
Human Rights Watch, however, says that it has solid information that Pakistani military officers were involved in smuggling of between $2 to 5 million worth of gold from Itrui district in Eastern Congo.
Approximately 70 percent of the population lacks access to adequate water supplies, while 80 percent does not have effective sanitation.
"Tolerating the spiral of violence is not an option," Indian representative Vikram Doraiswami told the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday, as it considered the situation in Afghanistan.
The resolution, which is expected to be introduced shortly, may be voted late this week or early next week.
Addressing a press conference shortly after being sworn in as the eighth secretary general on Thursday, he also did not agree with his predecessor Kofi Annan's criticism of the US for its "go-it-alone" diplomacy at the cost of multilateralism.
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