The United Nations is available to mediate between India and Pakistan if the two neighbours request such assistance in resolving the Kashmir issue, a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said.
Terming India a "leading voice" in the developing world, the UN today said both India and Pakistan should continue their composite dialogue process to maintain peace in the subcontinent but ruled out withdrawal of its observer mission in both countries.
In a defiant stance, Sri Lanka said on Thursday that it would not allow a United Nations panel to enter the country to investigate alleged human rights abuses during the last stages of the country's civil war, which could put the country in a confrontation course with the world body.
In a video message on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, Prime Minister Modi said India has always nurtured traditions that unite, adopt and embrace and made a fervent appeal to eliminate contradictions, hurdles and resistances through yoga.
The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, according to the European climate agency Copernicus. Every month from January to June was the warmest ever recorded, and from July to December (except August), each month was the second warmest on record. Scientists are warning that the world is entering a new climate reality, with extreme heatwaves, floods, and storms becoming more frequent and severe. The report also highlights the failure of developed nations to meet their climate finance commitments to developing countries, despite the urgency of the situation.
The Mumbai attacks came up for discussion when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, with the Indian side apprising him about Pakistani linkages to the terror strikes and urging him to press Islamabad to cooperate.
The UN says that if permission is granted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and if a lull in fighting permits, the convoy will cross the frontline on Thursday noon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said.
Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan, the US has called on both countries "not to escalate" the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to speak with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India as early as today or tomorrow. The US State Department said Washington is reaching out to both India and Pakistan "regarding the Kashmir situation" and telling them "not to escalate the situation."
India has been mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on Children and armed conflict since 2010 along with other countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in J&K for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds.
With the unrest in Africa and West Asia triggering a refugee deluge, the United Nations on Tuesday urged countries to welcome millions of such asylum seekers fleeing threats to their lives and not turn away from them citing budget constraints.
The Secretary-General's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during the daily press briefing on Thursday said the UN chief has underscored the need for dialogue as the only way to resolve the issue and, "as part of the solution for the current crisis in Kashmir, to make sure that human rights aspects are very much dealt with, as well."
"I made clear to President (Mahinda) Rajapaksa that I intend to move forward on a Group of Experts which will advise me on setting the broad parameters and standards on the way ahead on establishing accountability concerning Sri Lanka," Ban told media-persons I New York, referring to a conversation he had with Sri Lankan President on Thursday.
India along with China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE voted against equal rights for gay staffers in UN
After travelling to many European nations, Yoga exponent Baba Ramdev is now set to fly to the United Nations to deliver a lecture on poverty alleviation.
The political and ideological differences between the Congress and Shashi Tharoor is no longer a matter of whispers.
The UN made it clear that it will not conduct any inquiry into accusations of sexual harassment against R K Pachauri
Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag will attend an inaugural United Nations conference on peacekeeping operations
The Daily Telegraph of London reported on Tuesday, the first day of Ban in office, that UN peacekeepers and civilian staff were raping and abusing children as young as 12 in southern Sudan.
India on Friday said that the United Nations should ensure that Pakistan fulfills its commitment to end the terrorism emanating from its soil.External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said he had apprised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday about the details of the Mumbai attacks, which were carried out by elements based in Pakistan. "I requested the UN Secretary General to look into those aspects and ensure that Pak fully implements its own commitments," he said.
"I bear Dhanapala nothing but goodwill and I wish him well in whatever he undertakes," Tharoor said.
During talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Principal Secretary T K A Nair, Ban inquired about India's views on climate change both in terms of the developments at the national level and the climate summit to be held at the headquarters, next week, Indian authorities said on Thursday.
India has announced $12 million (Rs 73 crore) contribution to the United Nations to help it fight the deadly Ebola virus in the African continent.
China has backed Sri Lanka in its opposition to the setting up of a human rights panel by the United Nations to look into alleged rights abuses during the ethnic war, saying the government was capable of handling it.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised the United Nations that his forces would protect Tamil civilians as it pushes ahead with its offensive to defeat the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Rajapaksa gave this assurance over telephone to UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon, as his forces overran the last base of the sea Tigers near Mulaittivu, cutting off all their escape routes.
Russia's envoy to the UN and President of the Council for October Vitaly Churkin announced that after the sixth straw poll, Guterres has emerged as the "clear favourite" even as hopes for a woman to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the world's top diplomat suffered a major setback.
We're aware of the allegations, said the spokesperson of UN's Ban Ki-Moon.
The demand for an independent war crimes investigations into the "massacre" during the final days of the civil war in Sri Lanka has been intensified amid outrage that Vijay Nambiar, a top aide to UN Secretary-General was aware that over 20,000 Tamils were killed by the army.
Pak asks the UN to act before the situation snowballs into a 'full-fledged crisis'.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said he was encouraged by the commitment of India and Pakistan to continue their dialogue process, but ruled out withdrawal of its observer mission in both countries.
Eight Indian soldiers, who lost their lives while serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations last year, are among 106 military, police and civilian personnel to be posthumously awarded a prestigious UN medal this week for their courage and sacrifice in the line of duty.
Guterres will visit Moscow where on April 26 he will "have a working meeting and lunch with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and will be received by President Vladimir Putin," Eri Kaneko, associate spokesperson for the secretary-general said on Friday.
The 193-member General Assembly adopted the draft resolution, put forward by Ukraine and its supporters, titled 'Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine'.
With the backdrop of the famous wheel from the Konark Sun temple in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi welcomed G20 leaders at the Bharat Mandapam, venue of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, on Saturday, September 9, 2023.
the UN Secretary General's spokesperson stressed that the UN chief would welcome any proposals to de-escalate the tensions between the nuclear-armed neigbours.
Member-States must ensure that measures taken to counter terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general has said, asserting that the global body had "no information" about the whereabouts of Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri killed by a US drone strike in Kabul.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah, the frontal organisation of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which is blamed for the Mumbai attacks, has written to the United Nations claiming that it was not associated with the Al-Qaeda and Taliban and that the Security Council's sanctions on it were 'unjustified'.
