Guterres emphasised that global structures and institutions must reflect the complexity and the opportunity of the "new times and realities"
The joint report by UN Economic Commission for Europe and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation released on Tuesday said that consumption, production and trade of forest products reached record highs in 2006, with a slight downturn registered in 2007. That decline accelerated in 2008, marking the sharpest drop since the first oil shock of 1973, and continued into the first half of this year, it said.
His remarks came in response to several European nations announcing their decision to recognise a Palestinian state during a summit at the UNGA on Monday. While the move was largely symbolic, it added to Israel's diplomatic isolation. Washington, however, has made clear it does not support the step.
We have nothing to gain by raising our concerns internationally as our narrative has got entangled with several controversial concepts in the United Nations, asserts Ambassador T N Sreenivasan.
A 1987-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, Kamboj was previously Ambassador of India to Bhutan and was in June appointed India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, succeeding Ambassador T S Tirumurti.
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
"India's economy is projected to sustain a 7.6 per cent growth rate in both fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18," says the year-end update of the flagship report Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific 2016 of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Known to be having extensive expertise in dealing with India's neighbourhood as well as the US, China and Europe, the 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer pipped nearly half-a-dozen others in the race for the coveted post including Indian High Commissioner to UK Gaitri Issar Kumar (1986-batch IFS) and Ruchira Kamboj (1987 batch IFS).
The best, wisest, and fairest next step in strengthening our own cause is to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and allow the resumption of robust political activity. That's a box that remains unchecked on the Modi government's report card as we approach the fourth anniversary of Kashmir's Constitutional shift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The United States is the only western nation which ranked in the top 10.
The sources said friends of India prevailed over those of Pakistan in the European Parliament on Wednesday.
As the pandemic unfolded, the India-China relationship has come under severe stress. To restore normalcy, agreements between the two countries must be respected scrupulously in their entirety. Where the Line of Actual Control is concerned, any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo is unacceptable, declares External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The UK's employment minister and British Prime Minister David Cameron's Indian Diaspora Champion has been a very vocal supporter of Brexit in the June 23 referendum, leading to a disparaging remark about her name by a trade union chief in favour of remaining within the economic bloc.
Both the Greek and Iranian deals are extremely imperfect and fraught with uncertainty, says Claude Smadja.
'There are reports of political dissent mounting on Xi Jinping's handling of the Wuhan fallout.'
Terrorism and Afghanistan were the focus points of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov on his first visit to Central Asia.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in oil and gas as well as in petrochemical and fertiliser sectors there.
'The path to a resolution of the ethnic conflict is likely to be complicated and controversial with the majority Sinhalese community, and will become less likely if delayed.' 'It will certainly give Rajapaksa fresh political oxygen with which to revive himself and rally the opposition.'
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
