Pratik Mathur. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

India has slammed Pakistan for its “baseless and deceitful narratives” as Islamabad’s envoy made references to Kashmir in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA.)

“Earlier in the day, one delegation misused this forum to spread baseless and deceitful narratives, which is not a surprise,” Minister in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Pratik Mathur said on June 25.

“I will not dignify these remarks with any response, just to save the valuable time of this august body,” he said. Mr. Mathur was delivering India’s statement at the UN General Assembly debate on the Annual Report of the United Nations Security Council.

His retort came after Pakistan’s UN envoy Munir Akram made references to Kashmir in his remarks from the General Assembly podium during the debate.

Pakistan regularly raises the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at various UN platforms, irrespective of the subject matter being discussed or the theme of the forum and fails to get any support or traction.

India has previously rejected Pakistan’s attempts to raise the Kashmir issue at international forums, asserting that the “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India.”

United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts resolution renewing the mandate of UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) for a final 19-month period until 31 December 2025; all 15 members voted in favour.
| Photo Credit: Photo Credit: X/@UN_News_Centre

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted unanimously on May 31 to end the United Nations (UN) political mission in Iraq established in 2003 following the United States-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein to coordinate post-conflict humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, and to help restore a representative government in the country.

The Iraqi government asked the council in a May 8 letter to wrap up the mission by the end of 2025 and that’s what the resolution does: It extends the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq, known as UNAMI, for a final 19 months until December 31, 2025 when all its work will cease.

The U.S.-sponsored resolution asks Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to prepare “a transition and liquidation plan” in consultation with the Iraqi government by December 31, 2024, so UNAMI can start transferring its tasks and withdrawing staff and assets.

The council said it supports Iraq’s continuing stabilisation efforts, including its ongoing fight against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida extremists and their affiliates.

In 2014, the Islamic State group declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria and attracted tens of thousands of supporters from around the world. The extremists were defeated by a U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries.

Iraq is also seeking to wind down the military coalition formed to fight the IS. The roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are scattered around the country, largely in military installations in Baghdad and in the north. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has contended that the Iraqi security forces are capable of dealing with the remaining IS cells in the country and the coalition’s presence is no longer needed.

Mr. Al-Sudani’s office expressed its “welcome and appreciation” for the Security Council vote and said in a statement that the council decision “came as a result of the tangible progress that Iraq is witnessing at various levels”.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said secretary-general Guterres and UNAMI are “fully committed” to fulfilling the tasks in the resolution and “the United Nations remains strongly committed to supporting Iraq in its aspirations for a peaceful and secure future”.

Mr. Guterres notes “significant achievements” in Iraq since UNAMI was established in August 2003, Mr. Dujarric said, pointing to the mission’s assistance in advancing an inclusive political dialogue in the country, holding elections, promoting accountability, protecting human rights and coordinating the return and reintegration of people who are displaced within the country.

The resolution adopted on May 31 to close the UNAMI mission expresses support for Iraq’s reform efforts aimed at fighting corruption, respecting and protecting human rights, delivering essential services to its people, creating jobs and diversifying the economy.

It asks the secretary-general to streamline UNAMI’s tasks ahead of the mission’s closure to focus on providing advice, support and technical assistance to the government to strengthen preparations for free elections, including for the federal Parliament and for the Parliament in the Kurdistan region.

It also authorises UNAMI to facilitate progress toward finally resolving outstanding issues between Iraq and Kuwait, stemming from Saddam Hussein’s invasion of its smaller neighbour in August 1990.

In addition, the resolution says UNAMI should help with the return of internally displaced Iraqis and those in Syria, with providing health care and other services and with economic development. And it also authorises the mission to “promote accountability and the protection of human rights, and judicial and legal reform”.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood welcomed the resolution’s unanimous adoption and plans for an orderly wind-down of UNAMI.

“We all recognise that Iraq has changed dramatically in recent years and UNAMI’s mission needed to be realigned as part of our commitment to fostering a secure, stable and sovereign Iraq,” he told the council.

Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva stressed that what was important for Moscow in voting for the resolution was that the United States took into account the priorities Iraq wanted UNAMI to focus on in its final months.

“We are convinced that in the 20 years since its establishment UNAMI has fully realised its potential to assist in the restoration of Iraqi statehood and that the people of Iraq are now ready to assume full responsibility for the country’s political future,” she said. “We express our firm support for Iraq sovereignty and oppose any interference in the country’s internal affairs. That is an imperative.”

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test fire of tactical ballistic missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea on May 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States and allies South Korea and Japan clashed with China and Russia on May 31 over North Korea’s latest satellite and ballistic missile launches and threats to use nuclear weapons that have escalated tensions in northeast Asia.

The scene was an emergency open meeting of the U.N. Security Council called after North Korea’s failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on May 27 and other launches using ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has launched over 100 missiles using this banned technology as it has advanced its nuclear weapons program. In response, the U.S. and its allies have carried out an increasing number of military exercises.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari briefed the council meeting saying sovereign countries have the right to benefit from peaceful space activities – but the DPRK is expressly prohibited from conducting launches using ballistic missile technology and its continuing violations undermine global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties.

“We remain deeply concerned about growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr. Khiari said. “There is a need for practical measures to reduce tensions, reverse the dangerous dynamic, and create space to explore diplomatic avenues.”

The right to self-defence

North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song insisted that its satellite launches – and it had a successful one last November – are “the legitimate and universal right of a sovereign state” under international law and the Outer Space Treaty. He stressed that reconnaissance satellites are not only needed to strengthen its self-defence capabilities but to defend its sovereignty.

Mr. Kim told the Security Council that the “massive deployment of strategic assets and aggressive war exercises” by the United States on the Korean Peninsula and in the region have broken all records and destroyed the military balance.

This has turned the Korean Peninsula “into the most fragile zone in the world, fraught with the danger of outbreak of war,” he said, claiming that joint military exercises since the beginning of the year are “a U.S.-led nuclear war rehearsal.”

The DPRK ambassador said the Security Council shouldn’t waste time debating the legitimate rights of a sovereign state but should direct its attention to putting an immediate end to the killing of civilians in Gaza, “which continues unabated under U.S. patronage.”

South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said it should be his country – not the DPRK – that should claim the right to self-defence. He said the DPRK’s nuclear policy and its rhetoric “are getting increasing aggressive and hostile,” and Pyongyang no longer views its nuclear arsenal as just a deterrent against the United States, “but instead as a means to attack my country.”

He quoted DPRK leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, saying two weeks ago that the only purpose of their tactical nuclear weapons “is to teach a lesson to Seoul.”

Escalating confrontation

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood urged the Security Council to condemn the DPRK’s launches and hold it accountable for violating U.N. sanctions. “But two council members, China and Russia, continuously block the Security Council from speaking against the DPRK’s behavior with one voice and makes us all less safe,” he said.

Mr. Wood also accused the DPRK of unlawfully transferring dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine, “prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.” He rejected as “groundless” and disingenuous” claims by the DPRK and its supporters on the council that its missile launches are a response to U.S.-led military exercises.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered that “one of the key catalysts for the growing tensions in the region has been and remains the build-up of military activity by the U.S. and its allies.”

U.S.-led military drills against the DPRK and numerous other hostile acts with a threatening military component “are provoking countermeasures from North Korea, which is forced to take action to strengthen its national defense capacity,” she said.

Ms. Evstigneeva claimed, “the unstable situation around the Korean Peninsula is of benefit to Washington, which continues to confidently and deliberately pursue the path of confrontation instead of dialogue.” She also dismissed claims that Russia is engaging in illegal military and technical cooperation with the DPRK as “absolutely unfounded.”

China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, called the situation on the Korean Peninsula “highly tense, with antagonism and confrontation escalating,” and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any actions or rhetoric that might increase tension. He warned that a planned large-scale joint military exercise on the peninsula in August “practicing a scenario involving a nuclear war” will only increase tensions.

Mr. Wood retorted that “the United States is in no way a threat to the DPRK,” stressing that the U.S. offer to reach out “an open hand” and hold talks with the DPRK without preconditions over the past few years “has been met with a clenched fist.”

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining. 
| Photo Credit: AP

The U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) is expected to vote on May 10 on a resolution that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favourably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent, and U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday that Joe Biden administration is opposed to the Assembly resolution.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be “peace-loving,” and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

“We’ve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that,” Mr. Wood said on Thursday. “We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the U.N. is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.”

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The draft resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership – dropping the original language that in the General Assembly’s judgment it is “a peace-loving state.” It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request “favourably.”

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage. At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

“The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the U.S. but also by Russia and China,” the diplomats said.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine “the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation” in the assembly’s sessions and U.N. conferences “on equal footing with member states.” It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China which are strong supporters of Palestine’s U.N. membership were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be U.N. members — with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Under longstanding legislation by the U.S. Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state – which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor.

The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine “on equal footing with member states.” And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide “on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent” to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: “The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.”

The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates and the right to be elected as officers in the assembly’s main committees. It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations — but it drops their “right to vote” which was in the original draft.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authority’s application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didn’t get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Council’s 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.

India has voiced hope that Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations, which was blocked by the U.S. last month, will be reconsidered and its endeavour to become a member of the world organisation will get endorsed.

The U.S. vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on a Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations last month. The 15-nation Council had voted on a draft resolution that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”

The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the UK abstaining and the U.S. casting its veto. To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“While we have noted that Palestine’s application for membership at the United Nations was not approved by the Security Council because of the aforesaid veto, I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with India’s long-standing position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestine’s endeavour to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said here.

India was the first non-Arab State to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. India was also one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine in 1988 and in 1996, Delhi opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Currently, Palestine is a “non-member observer state” at the UN, a status granted to it by the General Assembly in 2012. This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.

Addressing a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, Ms. Kamboj underlined that India’s leadership has repeatedly emphasised that only a two-state solution achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine on final status issues will deliver an enduring peace.

“India is committed to supporting a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders with due regard to the security needs of Israel,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj stressed that to arrive at a lasting solution, India would urge all parties to foster conditions conducive to resuming direct peace negotiations at an early date.

On April 2, Palestine sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full U.N. membership be considered again. For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.

Ms. Kamboj noted that the latest conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for over six months and the humanitarian crisis that it has triggered has been increasing.

“There is also the potential for growing instability in the region and beyond,” she added.

Underlining India’s position on the conflict, Ms. Kamboj said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and a humanitarian crisis, which is simply unacceptable. India has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict.

Ms. Kamboj said the terror attacks in Israel on October 7 were shocking and deserve “unequivocal condemnation.

“There can be no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking. India has a long-standing and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Ms. Kamboj said.

India stressed that it is imperative that humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza be scaled up immediately in order to avert a further deterioration in the situation. “We urge all parties to come together in this endeavour,” Ms. Kamboj said, adding that India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and that it will continue to do so.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing Gaza’s Ministry of Health data, said that from October 7, 2023, till now, at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 Palestinians injured.

OCHA said that between the afternoons of April 28 and May 1, two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,602 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.

As of May 1, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld, it said.

New Delhi:

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake in the US state of New Jersey on Friday interrupted the UN Security Council meeting in the neighboring New York City.

In a video posted by the UN on X, Janti Soeripto, the President and Chief Executive Officer of “Save the Children” organization, was briefing the security council on the situation in war-torn Gaza when suddenly they felt the tremors of the earthquake at the United Nations building.

As she took a pause, a fellow member said, “You’re making the ground shake!”.

She then continued further after the tremors subsided.

#BREAKING: “You’re making the ground shake!” UN Security Council hears as mid-morning #earthquake interrupts briefing on the situation in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/1F8TZBHKKu

— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) April 5, 2024

New York City was shaken by a small earthquake with a 4.8 magnitude and an epicenter in neighboring New Jersey state.

There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.

Social media users reported feeling the earthquake from Philadelphia up to New York and eastward along Long Island.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul  said the earthquake hit west of Manhattan and was “felt throughout” New York.

“My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day,” she posted on X.

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit west of Manhattan and has been felt throughout New York.

My team is assessing impacts and any damage that may have occurred, and we will update the public throughout the day.

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) April 5, 2024

Earlier in the day, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “scattered measures” for Gaza aid are not enough after Israel told the UN it will allow a “meaningful increase” in aid.

“It’s not enough to have scattered measures — we need a paradigm shift,” he told reporters at the UN’s New York headquarters.

The latest war in Gaza began on October 7 last year when Hamas attacked Israel and killed about 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, most of them civilians.

Since then, Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 33,000 people in Gaza.

(With agency inputs)

Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj speaking at the UNGA, in New York. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

India has said that blocking evidence-based proposals in the U.N. Security Council to blacklist global terrorists without justification smacks of “double-speak” in dealing with the scourge, a veiled reference to China that has put holds on bids to sanction Pakistan-based terrorists.

“Let us turn to the subsidiary bodies inhabiting a subterranean world, with their own custom-made working methods and obscure practices which do not find any legal basis in the Charter or any of the Council’s resolutions,” India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said.

Ms. Kamboj was referring to the sanctions committee of the U.N. Security Council as she delivered India’s statement at the open debate on March 11 on the Working Methods of the 15-nation U.N. body.

“For instance, while we do get to know of the decisions of these committees on listing, the decisions on rejecting listing requests are not made public. This is indeed a disguised veto, but an even more impervious one that indeed merits a discussion amongst the wider membership,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj highlighted that “genuine, evidence-based listing proposals for globally sanctioned terrorists to be blocked, without giving any due justification, is uncalled for and smacks of double-speak when it comes to the Council’s commitment to tackling the challenge of terrorism.” Ms. Kamboj’s remarks appeared to be a veiled reference to the Council’s permanent and veto-wielding member China that has repeatedly blocked or put technical holds on bids by India and supported by other Council members under the 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists.

In June 2023, China blocked a proposal by India and the U.S. to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the Security Council.

On various occasions in the past, Beijing, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, placed holds and blocks on bids by India to list Pakistan-based terrorists.

In May 2019, India had won a huge diplomatic win at the U.N. when the global body designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, a decade after New Delhi had first approached the world body on the issue.

Ms. Kamboj further said that as an organ of the United Nations tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security, the debate on the Council’s working methods remains extremely relevant, especially in the backdrop of Ukraine and Gaza.

“As such, how much has the Security Council been able to deliver on peace and security, with both feet firmly fixed in the past, is a larger question that the member states need to collectively ponder upon,” she said.

The Council has remained deeply polarised and failed on multiple occasions to take action on resolutions to deal with the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts due to vetos cast by its permanent members such as the US and Russia.

“As the threats to international peace and security evolve, so must this Council. We ask those blocking progress on this vital issue to heed calls for genuine reform, and contribute to making this Council truly fit for purpose for the 21st century,” she said.

Reiterating the need for urgent UNSC reforms, Ms. Kamboj said, “We also witness an equitable representation sized hole in the Security Council between the P5 and E10,” referring to the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. and the remaining 10 non-permanent Council members elected for 2-year terms.

“What we therefore need is a Security Council that better reflects contemporary realities – the geographical and developmental diversity of the multipolar world of today, including the voices of the developing countries and unrepresented regions, like Africa, Latin America and the vast majority of Asia and the Pacific. For this, an expansion of the Council in both categories of membership is absolutely essential,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj asserted that the international community can no longer hide behind the “smokescreen” of the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UNSC reform by delivering “entrenched national positions in a process which has no time frame, and no text”. “We should embark upon the only established process in the U.N., which is by engaging in negotiations based on text and not through speaking at each other, or past each other, as we have done for the past three decades,” she said.

Last week, India presented a detailed model on behalf of the G4 nations — Brazil, Germany, Japan and itself — for Security Council reform that includes new permanent members elected democratically by the General Assembly and displays flexibility on the veto issue, as Delhi emphasised that the U.N.’s 80th anniversary next year serves as a milestone to achieve concrete progress on the long-pending subject.

New York:

India has strongly condemned the countries that use their veto powers to block evidence-based terrorist listings at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and said the practice is uncalled for and smacks of doublespeak to the council’s commitment in tackling the challenge of terrorism.

“Let us turn to the subsidiary bodies inhabiting a subterranean world with their own custom-made working methods and obscure practices which do not find any legal basis in the charter or any of the council’s resolutions. For instance, while we do get to know of the decisions of these committees on listing, the decisions on rejecting listing requests are not made public,” India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj, said at a session of the United Nations Security Council.

“This is a disguised veto, but an even more impervious one that indeed merits a discussion amongst the wider membership. For genuine evidence-based listing proposals for globally sanctioned terrorists to be blocked without giving any due justification is uncalled for and smacks of doublespeak when it comes to the council’s commitment in tackling the challenge of terrorism,” she added, in what seems like a veiled attack on China.

“…We can no longer hide behind the smokescreen of the Intergovernmental Negotiations by delivering entrenched national positions in a process which has no time frame, and no text….”

– PR in the United Nations Security Council today. pic.twitter.com/39x3J8riW4

— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) March 11, 2024

Earlier last year, China had put a technical hold on the proposal after India and the United States submitted a proposal to the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee to designate Sajid Mir, who is wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, which killed 166 people and injured over 300.

China had effectively blocked a proposal to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir as a global terrorist. For a proposal to be adopted, it needs consensus from all the member countries.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Kamboj argued that the selection of chairs of subsidiary bodies and decision-making power must be given through an open process that intends to be transparent.

“The selection of chairs of subsidiary bodies and distribution of pen holderships must be made through a process which is open, which is transparent, which is based on exhaustive consultations and with a more integrated perspective. The consensus of the e ten on chairs of subsidiary bodies, to be assumed by the E-10 themselves, must be absolutely honoured by the P-5,” she said.

“As one of the largest troop-contributing countries, my delegation would like to reiterate that the concerns of the troop and police contributing countries should be taken into consideration for better implementation of peacekeeping mandates. There is a need to review the agenda of the council and remove obsolete and irrelevant items from the agenda of the Security Council,” she added.

India also reiterated its call for UNSC reforms and asked countries that block the revision of giving permanent seats at the forum to contribute to making the council fit for the 21st century.

“As the threats to international peace and security evolve, Mr. President, so must this council. We ask those blocking progress on this vital issue to heed calls for genuine reform and contribute to making this council truly fit for purpose for the 21st century. Thank you,” Kamboj said.

“It is also imperative to note that working methods do not stand in isolation as they have an organic linkage to other clusters, including the relationship with the General Assembly and discussions on the veto. Therefore, unless we address the issue in its entirety, a piecemeal approach would fail to offer a holistic solution,” she said.

“As we discuss the working methods, we also witness an equitable representation-sized hole in the Security Council between P five and e ten. What we, therefore, need is a Security Council that better reflects contemporary realities, and the geographical and developmental diversity of the multipolar world of today, including the voices of the developing countries and unrepresented regions like Africa, Latin America, and the vast majority of Asia and the Pacific. For this, an expansion of the council in both categories of membership is absolutely essential,” she added.

Kamboj said, “As the threats to international peace and security evolve, Mr. President, so must this council. We ask those blocking progress on this vital issue to heed calls for genuine reform and contribute to making this council truly fit for purpose for the 21st century.”

She insisted on the effectiveness of the United Nations in international peace and security and said that the debate on working methods remains extremely relevant.

“As an organ of the United Nations tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security, the debate on working methods remains extremely relevant, especially in the backdrop of Ukraine and Gaza. As such, the question as to how much the Security Council has been able to deliver on peace and security with both feet firmly fixed in the past is a larger question that the member states need to collectively ponder upon in that collective reflection,” she said.

“On the council’s engagement with the wider membership and as mandated by Article 24 of the UN Charter, one of the meaningful ways of doing this would be through a discussion on the report of the Security Council in the General Assembly. However, despite long-standing demands for analytical reportage, these remain just factual markers indicating the number of times the council has met or the total debates that have been conducted,” she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India has presented a detailed model on behalf of the G4 nations for Security Council reform that includes new permanent members elected democratically by the General Assembly and displays flexibility on the veto issue.

Participating in the Inter-governmental Negotiations on Security Council reform (IGN) on March 7, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said the UN’s 80th anniversary next year serves as a milestone to achieve concrete progress on the long-pending subject.

Ms. Kamboj presented the ‘G4 model’ on behalf of Brazil, Germany, Japan and India for debate, dialogue and finally negotiations. The proposals elicited strong support from wider UN members.

“The realities of 1945, when the Council was established, have long been superseded by the geo-political realities of the modern era and a new century; with the need for change being felt across the board,” Ms. Kamboj said as she shared the exhaustive G4 model with UN Member States in the General Assembly.

Catering to these new realities, the G4 model proposes that the Security Council’s membership increase from the current 15 to 25-26, by adding six permanent and four or five non-permanent members.

Among the six new permanent members, two each are proposed to be from African states and Asia Pacific states, one from Latin American and Caribbean states; and one from Western European and Other states.

The G4 model notes that the current composition of the Security Council, with its “glaring under-representation and un-representation” of key regions in both categories of membership, is “detrimental” to its legitimacy and effectiveness. It stressed that the Council’s inability to address critical conflicts and maintain international peace and security underscores the urgent need for reform.

“Any reform that does not address the lack of representation, particularly in the permanent category, would only exacerbate the current imbalances in the Council’s composition and render it ill-equipped to address today’s international challenges,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj highlighted that it is important to note that the G4 model “does not specify” which member states will occupy the new permanent seats. “This decision will be made by the General Assembly in a democratic and inclusive election.”

She told the UN membership that the world has undergone a sea change since 1945 and the new realities need to be reflected in the permanent membership. “Any proposal that does not address the issue of representation of the Global South, including Africa, Asia and Latin America, in the permanent category does a grave injustice to the aspirations of developing countries for equality.”

The G4 model offered flexibility on the veto, an issue that has been a contentious topic among member states as they try to move the needle forward on the reform process that has moved at a snail’s pace over the years.

“While the new permanent members would, as a principle, have the same responsibilities and obligations as current permanent members, they shall not exercise the veto until a decision on the matter has been taken during a review,” Ms. Kamboj said.

“Nonetheless, we should not allow the veto issue to have a “veto” over the process of Council reform itself. Our proposal is also a gesture of displaying flexibility on the issue for a constructive negotiation,” she said.

Currently, only the five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. — hold veto powers and through its use have stalled action in the Council to address global challenges and conflicts such as in Ukraine and Gaza.

The remaining 10 nations in the Council are elected to sit as non-permanent members for two-year terms and do not have veto powers.

Highlighting the urgency for reform, Ms. Kamboj said the world and the future generations can wait no longer. The ambitious Summit of the Future scheduled to be held at the UN this September and the 80th anniversary of the United Nations next year are “important milestones towards which we should aim to make concrete progress. We must push forward a reform heeding the voice of the young and future generations, including from Africa, where the demand to correct the historical injustices grows ever stronger. Otherwise, we simply risk sending the Council down the path of oblivion and irrelevance”.

France’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere said his country has long supported the candidacy of India, Japan, Brazil and Germany for permanent membership.

“In addition, France fully subscribes to the spirit of the model for comprehensive reform of the Security Council which has just been presented. It is in line with the strong expectations expressed by the vast majority of this Assembly,” he said, responding to the G4 model.

The U.S. said it is clear that the strong majority of UN member states, including all 54 African countries, support expanding both permanent and non-permanent seats on the Security Council.

“For the Security Council to best derive the benefits of both categories, it is important that both the permanent and non-permanent membership be representative of the world as it is today, not the world as it existed in the wake of the Second World War.”

Jagpreet Kaur. File
| Photo Credit: Photo Credit: X/@JagKaur_IFS

India has slammed Pakistan as it raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, saying it should introspect on its own appalling human rights record and “deserved global reputation” as the “world’s terrorism factory”.

Under Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva Jagpreet Kaur exercised the country’s Right of Reply at the General debate at the 55th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday after Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), raked the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in its statement.

“We have taken the floor previously during this Session and conveyed our disinclination to waste the Council’s time in responding to fallacious comments about India, by one particular delegation, which does so as they do not have anything constructive to contribute,” Ms. Kaur said on March 4.

Without naming Pakistan, Ms. Kaur said it is unfortunate that “this country continues with its diatribe against India, including by continuing to misuse the OIC’s platform to further their own politically motivated agenda.

“We do not wish to dignify such remarks by responding to them and are taking the floor again only to urge that delegation to introspect on their own appalling human rights record and their deserved global reputation as the world’s terrorism factory,” Ms. Kaur said.

Last week, in a strong retort to Pakistan, India had said in the Council that the country is soaked in the red of the bloodshed from the terrorism that it sponsors around the world as First Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in Geneva Anupama Singh had exercised India’s Right of Reply at the high-level segment of the 55th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan, India said that “we cannot pay any further attention to a country that speaks while being soaked in red — the red of the bloodshed from the terrorism it sponsors around the world; the red of its debt-riddled national balance sheets; and the red of the shame its own people feel for their government having failed to serve their actual interests.”

She said a country that hosts and even celebrates UN Security Council-sanctioned terrorists, “commenting on India whose pluralistic ethos and democratic credentials are exemplars for the world, is a contrast for everyone to see.” Hitting out at Pakistan for the “extensive references” to India, Mr. Singh had said it is deeply unfortunate for the Council’s platform to have once again been misused to make patently false allegations against India.