UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has termed Russian President Vladimir Putin announcement of a special military operation in Ukraine as the "saddest moment in my tenure", while Security Council members blasted the Russian leader for the "unprovoked and unjustified' action and for delivering a "message of war".
Lauding India's "admirable" record in implementing the United Nations Security Council resolutions, the US has voiced confidence that the country would fully enforce the latest tough sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.
Holding placards and banners, rival Kashmiri groups staged protests outside the United Nations on Friday afternoon during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to the plenary session of the UN General Assembly.
During a meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers in New York on the sidelines of the 67th session of the General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "categorically stated that he supported India's permanent membership of the Security Council," Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said.
Akbaruddin is currently serving as additional secretary in the MEA.
India has said that it was deeply concerned over the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and reiterated its call for immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities.
Pakistan has drawn the attention of the United Nations to what it said was India's "intention" to escalate tension on the Line of Control by launching artillery barrages, which were threatening regional peace and security.
Tirumurti voiced deep concern for the safety and security of thousands of Indian citizens, including students, stranded in Ukraine.
'We condemn recent illicit missile launches in the region that violate UN Security Council resolutions. We express serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain. We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures,' the declaration said.
The UN on Friday, said it is yet to receive any appeal from Jamaat-ud-Dawa or four of its top leaders to review the sanctions imposed on them by the Security Council in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. If received, the request would need to be considered by the Security Council, with the letter for review being sent through a member state.
Jaishankar said: "Our expectation levels with the Pakistanis are never very high."
India on Monday abstained from a procedural vote taken in the UN Security Council ahead of a meeting to discuss the situation on the Ukraine border.
Days after India voted against it at the United Nations, Israel on Sunday hoped the Indian decision would not impact on the robust Indo-Israel ties in strategic areas of defence and security, to which they have added some more "ingredients" in the past few months.
What are India's chances of getting a permanent seat in a revamped UN Security Council?
The Russian-drafted resolution, which passed unanimously by all 15 member-states of the Security Council, appealed to all countries 'to criminalise piracy under their domestic law and favourably consider the prosecution of suspected, and imprisonment of convicted, pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, consistent with applicable international human rights law.'
The Ukrainian ambassador said India has special relationship with Russia and it can play a more proactive role in de-escalation of the situation.
India is a great power that determines its national interests and chooses its partners, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, describing as "completely unjustified" the "enormous pressure" on New Delhi due to its energy cooperation with Moscow.
'Parents are forced to provide their children to Russian re-education camps in occupied territories and in different parts of Russia, for example, in Chechnya, where Ukrainian children wearing military uniform are taught to use weapons.'
It is time for the Congress and the Bush administration to recognise the importance India plays in the region and the world, the Democratic Congressman said.
A United States official is set to hold talks in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Lebanon this week on sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council on Iran over its nuclear programme.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Washington's move only complicates the issue.
India's permanent membership in the reformed UNSC is unacceptable to Pakistan
"We deeply appreciate the fact that President Obama made that declaration of support for India's candidature as a Permanent Member of the Security Council and subsequently to that we have had some useful discussion with the State Department," Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told media persons at a press conference in Washington.
Delivering a thinly veiled message to Pakistan from its soil, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said activities across borders characterised by the 'three evils' of terrorism, extremism and separatism are unlikely to encourage trade, energy flows and connectivity.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday warned America and its allies against one-sided intervention in Syria, even as US said it not only risks losing friends but also credibility at the world stage if no military action is taken against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Canada's envoy to the United Nations, Robert Rae, during his address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday raised the issue of 'foreign interference' adding that the rules of state-to-state relations, cannot be bent for 'political expediency'.
India has sought China's support for its bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council during a meeting between President Pratibha Patil and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Bejing. Patil, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday on a six-day visit to China, was welcomed warmly by Wen at the Purple Light Pavilion.
The United Nations Security Council has called for urgent humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout Gaza to allow unhindered humanitarian access in the strip, finally overcoming deadlock and adopting a resolution in the month-long Israel-Hamas conflict.
As it has done in the past, Beijing put a technical hold on the proposal just as the deadline was about to end.
"The United States believes that the long-term legitimacy and viability of the UN Security Council depends on its reflecting the world of the 21st century," said Gordon Duguid, the State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman, onThursday.
India has reiterated its reluctance to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty despite United States President Barack Obama's call for all nations to sign the disputed pact.
"The 21st century peacekeeping must be anchored in a strong ecosystem of technology and innovation that can facilitate UN peacekeeping operations in implementing their mandates in complex environments," India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar said
US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley also called on all countries to sever economic and diplomatic ties with Pyongyang to curb its nuclear programme.
"There was a resolution in the United Nations Security Council. If Pakistan had not taken steps under that, then they could have declared Pakistan a terrorist state. They could have crippled Pakistan's economy," Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said.
"Next year we are trying for a Security Council seat (from the Asian region) and I believe that the Indians have said that they will support us there," Abdullah Hussain Haroon told PTI.
The Quad also vowed to work towards a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen increasing Chinese military muscle-flexing in the last few years.
India has strongly rejected comments by United Nations experts on Manipur, terming them 'unwarranted, presumptive and misleading' and asserting that situation in the Northeast state is peaceful.
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