Early reform of the United Nations Security Council, terrorism and peacekeeping will be among the main issues that India will pursue during the world body's General Assembly session, Indian ambassador to the UN has said.
As the UN marks 75 years of its existence, the 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a forward-looking political declaration that gave a clarion call for strengthening mechanism to combat terrorism, reformed multilateralism, inclusive development and better preparedness to deal with challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.
India has slammed Pakistan at a UN debate by drawing attention to the heinous crimes of gross sexual violence against women in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, adding the pattern continues with impunity to this day.
Modi had given his maiden address to the UN General Assembly as Prime Minister in 2014.
Three Indian peacekeepers were killed when attackers stormed a United Nations base in South Sudan where civilians had taken refuge, as violence and unrest continued unabated in the the world's newest country.
Pakistan reacted strongly to the seizure by India of a ship carrying equipment used by Pakistan and Bangladesh for UN peacekeeping missions on Sunday.
India has asked the UN Security Council to make mandatory provisions for prosecuting and neutralising armed groups that threaten to harm UN peacekeeping operations.
Modi had given his maiden address to the UN General Assembly as Prime Minister in 2014.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed Atul Khare of India as head of its Change Management Team tasked with suggesting reforms to make the global organisation work more efficiently.
The sources said Modi's pre-recorded video statement is expected to be broadcast at the UN General Assembly hall in New York around 9 am local time (6.30 pm IST) and added that he is scheduled as the first speaker in the forenoon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon who said he "counted on India's leadership" in South Asia, at the Sustainable Development Goals summit in New York marking the world body's landmark 70th anniversary session.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has conceded that he was wrong in opposing India's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that the country's current position allows it to play a significant role in achieving lasting peace. Tharoor, who had initially criticized India's neutrality, now acknowledges that the policy has positioned India as a mediator, capable of engaging with both Russia and Ukraine.
Last week, two BSF troopers from Rajasthan, members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo, were killed by protestors. Do we need to lose lives fighting in a country not ours, in a war that is not ours and for a cause that is not ours, asks Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who served in the UNPKF in Congo.
The United Nations owes India $110 million (over Rs 672 crore), the second highest outstanding payment to any country, for costs relating to peacekeeping operations and troops, a top UN official said.
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.
On Jawaharlal Nehru's 61st death anniversary, Utkarsh Mishra recalls how India's first prime minister cultivated a unique role for the newly independent country on the world stage.
The prime minister will address the UNGA for the second time, his first being in September 2014 after he came to power for the first time.
First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN called Pakistan a 'hub of terrorism'.
Major Suman Gawani, who served as a UN Peacekeeper in South Sudan, is the first Indian to receive the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. 'On seeing the Indian flag on my uniform,' she says,' the locals would get very excited and say, 'Hindi, Hindi'.'
Chatterjee, whose early career was in the Indian Army, was decorated for gallantry by the President of India in 1995.
'If you look at peacekeeping right now, it is fraught with accusations of sexual abuse or peacekeepers involved in deals that are outside their purview, human trafficking.' 'When a contingent of women walk through a camp, the women in the camp and the children respond to them, talk to them. Women are more open to talking about sexual violence and domestic violence to other women.'
As part of their joint efforts to fight terrorism, India and the European Union today decided to work towards blocking access to terrorist financing and to cooperate in the fight against money-laundering
'No respite from economic pain is worth the loss of dignity and self-respect,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
Five Indian Army personnel, including a Lt Colonel, all part of a UN peacekeeping mission, were on Tuesday killed and as many injured when their convoy was ambushed by rebels in South Sudan.
By proposing the addition of six permanent members this year, it may appear that it was a major concession, but in actual fact, it will make no difference to the privilege of the permanent five as the new six will have no veto, ever! points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Indian Army officers always lead their men into battle or combat. Pakistani officers are seldom seen at the front.'
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep regret over the death of an Indian UN peacekeeper who was killed during clashes between renegade soldiers of Congo and government troops on the border with Uganda.
Jaishankar said: "Our expectation levels with the Pakistanis are never very high."
The British Broadcasting Corporation alleged that the UN had covered up claims that its troops in Congo had indulged in these activities, claiming it had new eye-witness accounts to refute UN claims that no weapon transfers had taken place. The report came against the backdrop of India having its biggest-ever peacekeeping contingent in the troubled African country.
'Kofi Annan will be remembered more for his Nobel Prize and related glory rather than Rwanda and Volcker,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan with whom he worked in the UN.
Dharma Guardian 2025 will primarily focus on urban warfare tactics and counter-terrorism operations and underscores the growing strategic partnership between India and Japan.
UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno said a month after an all-female police contingent from India arrived in Liberia earlier this year the Liberian national police received three times the usual number of female applicants.
The delay in making payments to India and other troop contributing countries is mainly due to some member states withholding or delaying their mandatory financial contribution to the world body, the minister said.
The UNSC meeting also focussed on the 15th report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Da'esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of member states in countering the threat.
'The escalation of tension along the border of Ukraine with the Russian Federation is a matter of deep concern'
The United Nations has sought India's help to resolve training issues to raise standards of peacekeepers and also asked it to contribute helicopters for its mission in Darfur region of Sudan, UN Under-Secretary General Alain Le Roy has said.
India has told the UN Security Council that it does not subscribe to the view that women should form part of the military component of peacekeeping missions, emphasising no "useful purpose" will be served by it.
he also talked about India's tradition of respecting the nature through festivals like 'Chhat' and referred to the ongoing cleanliness campaign.
Lt Gen Baggavalli Somashekar Raju will take over as the next vice chief of the Army Staff on May 1, the defence ministry said on Friday.
