Hardeep Singh Puri, currently secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been appointed Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. He will succeed Nirupam Sen, whose term ended on March 31. The Ministry of External Affairs stated that Puri was expected to take up his assignment shortly in New York. Puri, 57, a 1974-batch Indian Foreign Services officer, is known for his expertise on economic issues, especially on World Trade Organisation-related matters.
Puri's clarification came after Gandhi claimed that the Union minister's name has also figured in 'Epstein Files' released in the US.
India has voiced its deep concern over reports of increasing civilian casualties in Lebanon due to Israeli strikes, emphasising the protection of civilians and the importance of international law.
Career diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who recently retired as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Addressing the annual session of UN Women's executive board on Tuesday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said work on gender equality and empowerment of women continues to remain 'chronically underfunded'.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said a presentation on the tablet will be held on November 28 at the world body's headquarters here to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be invited.
Pakistan's ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon pointed out the greatness of Gandhi in having ensured that at the time of partition Pakistan was promptly returned its financial dues. "Pakistan owes a debt of gratitude to a person who put himself even further at risk in ensuring that the right thing is done. That is what embodies the entire life of the Mahatma. We must never forget that it is from one base that we have all risen. We can have minor differences," he said
The Indian envoy to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri asked the Security Council to devise clear and achievable goals for missions serving in post-conflict areas around the world and provide greater resources for their implementation.
India has given over four million dollars to the United Nations Democracy Fund, bringing to nearly 30 million dollars its total contribution to the entity launched in 2005 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then United States President George W Bush for promotion of democratic values. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri handed over a cheque for $ 4.17 million on Friday to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
India has strongly protested the inclusion of the Naxal issue under the realm of 'armed conflict' in a United Nations report, saying the violence being perpetrated by these groups does not make it a zone of armed conflict, as defined by international law.
India on Wednesday said that mere "cosmetic changes" to the United Nations Security Council will not improve its effectiveness, asking its five permanent members to realise that the reform of the powerful body, including its expansion, is necessary to reflect contemporary realities.
Both ministers on Thursday greeted each other warmly and made inquiries about their stay in New York so far, Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said. Krishna then asked Qureshi about the flood situation in Pakistan and how the relief efforts were coming along. Qureshi, in turn, spoke about the steps his government was taking and also thanked India for its aid of USD 20 million routed through the UN
More than a decade after India launched a spirited campaign for a United Nations Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism as well as reform of the UN Security Council, both in the permanent and non-permanent categories, there is renewed hope that both campaigns may succeed, thanks to India's untiring diplomatic efforts at the world body. Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.
Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said while there is no word yet of a formal bilateral meeting between Krishna and Khar, the "possibility" of a meeting in a social set-up "is very likely."
India on Thursday said it expects an "impartial" investigation by the International Criminal Court into war crimes committed during the Libyan conflict that punishes both Muammar Gaddafi's troops as well as opposition forces responsible for violence and killings during the uprising.
Talking tough on terror in the backdrop of tension on the Indo-Pak border, India told United Nations Security Council that nations using terror as an "instrument of state policy" are "short-sighted" and have invariably themselves suffered immensely from the "Frankenstein monster."
Presently, women comprise only 8 per cent of UN police officers and about 2 per cent of the military personnel deployed in peacekeeping operations.
Securing a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council is India's top priority for the year and it seems "eminently doable" with India putting a concerted effort, Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri has said.
"A stable and settled Afghanistan, where the rank and file of the Taliban has given up violence against the government, and the people, cut all links with terrorism, subscribe to the values of the Afghan Constitution and its laws, and where development is the hard rationale, is what we seek and quest for," Permanent Representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri said.
Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, the new permanent representative of India to the United Nations, on Tuesday presented his credentials to Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Hooking on to Facebook lingo, India's envoy to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri said revitalisation of the UN General Assembly is highly "commented upon" but rarely "shared" and faces the danger of having its status "updated" once a year.
As violence in Syria worsens, India has called on all parties within and outside the troubled country to fully cooperate with international envoy Kofi Annan to bring an end to the crisis.
India on Friday handed over a cheque of Rs 90 crore to United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon for relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected in Pakistan, after Islamabad's insistence that the aid be routed through the world body.
Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the architect of India's stunning diplomatic victory this week, speaks to Aziz Haniffa.
As India assumes the month-long presidency of the United Nations Security Council, the international community has "very high expectations" from it, New Delhi's envoy to the United Nations, Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.
Offering its wholehearted support to flood-stricken Pakistan, India has vowed to do all it can to assist the country in relief efforts, apart from the $ 5 million in aid already extended by it.
India has said the 15-nation United Nations Security Council should be expanded to include 10 more members, cautioning that delay in reforming the powerful world body will be at the international community's "own peril". Participating in the 8th round of intergovernmental negotiations on UN Security Council reforms, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said India is of the view that reform and expansion of the Security Council are essential
India was elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member with a thumping majority of votes, including that of Pakistan, in what was quickly described by New Delhi as significant.
India has underlined the need for the United Nations to focus on humanitarian works in Haiti, saying the world body shouldn't get too deeply embroiled in the country's internal politics.
Armed intervention should be a "measure of last resort" in any conflict-plagued nation, India has said, stressing that the responsibility to protect should primarily focus on political engagement with all parties and should not be pursued with an objective of regime change.
India has demanded that the principle of "protection of civilians" must be applied in a uniform manner to all parties to a conflict, pointing out that the UNSC failure to enforce accountability of armed groups has served to exacerbate the situation in several instances.
Revelations about motherboards' origin have cast doubts about its India tag.
India on Friday called for the full implementations of United Nations Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions against Iran without harming its legitimate economic activities, as New Delhi underlined the need to resolve the row over Tehran's nuclear programme peacefully.
Despite a strong call for establishing a no-fly zone in Libya by Britain, deliberations on the measure were still "very preliminary", according to a top Indian envoy in United Nations, who stressed that key questions like "objective" and "assets" remain unanswered.
Osama bin Laden's killing did not mean the end of the war against terrorism, India has said, underlining the need to root out the "syndicate of terrorism", which includes elements of the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. "Without the elimination of terrorist safe heavens and sanctuaries, there can be no end to the global war on terror," India's envoy to the United Nations Hardeep Singh Puri said at a UN counter-terrorism meeting, without referring to Pakistan.
Former Research and Analysis Wing chief Sanjeev Tripathi on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, following the footsteps of several retired bureaucrats and diplomats finding a career in politics.
'But he was very quick and did a very stylish adab.' 'Of course, I didn't expect him to hug.'
During his college days, Hardeep Puri was a student leader who was active in the JP movement.
'Under Narendra Modi's leadership, we will be able to regain our rightful place in the community of nations,' veteran diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who joined the BJP on January 2, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.