The UK is the President of the Security Council for the month of April and it announced in a tweet on Monday that Zelenskyy will virtually address Tuesday's Security Council meeting on Ukraine following his visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
This will be the first time that Zelenskyy addresses the Security Council since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Council.
The Council and the General Assembly have held several meetings, including a rare Emergency Special Session in the 193-member Assembly on the situation in Ukraine.
The UK Presidency of the Council will ensure the truth is heard about Russia's war crimes. We will expose (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war for what it really is, the UK Mission to the UN said.
Images and videos of people lying dead on the streets of Bucha, some with their hands tied behind them, drew global condemnation and calls for investigation and tougher actions against Russia.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha.
It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability, he said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that she is horrified by the images of civilians lying dead on the streets and in improvised graves in the town of Bucha in Ukraine.
Reports emerging from this and other areas raise serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes as well as grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law, she said, adding that it is essential that all bodies are exhumed and identified so that victims' families can be informed, and the exact causes of death established.
All measures should be taken to preserve evidence, Bachelet said.
It is vital that all efforts are made to ensure there are independent and effective investigations into what happened in Bucha to ensure truth, justice and accountability, as well as reparations and remedy for victims and their families, she added.
US Ambassador at UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters in Bucharest, Romania that Washington, in close coordination with Ukraine, European countries and other partners at the UN, is going to seek Russia's suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.
A hundred-and-forty UN Member States have already voted to condemn Russia over its unprovoked war and the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed upon the people of Ukraine.
My message to those 140 countries who have courageously stood together is simple: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action. We cannot let a Member State that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to sit on the UN Human Rights Council, Thomas-Greenfield said.
She was referring to the UN Member States who voted in favour of General Assembly resolutions deploring Russian action and demanding that Moscow immediately withdraw its forces and cease hostilities.
Russia should not have a position of authority in that body, nor should we allow Russia to use their role on the Council as a tool of propaganda to suggest they have a legitimate concern about human rights.
In fact, we see every day, including yesterday, heartbreaking reports about how little they care about human rights. Russia's participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce. It hurts the credibility of the Council and the UN writ large. And it is simply wrong. Which is why we believe it is time for the UN General Assembly to suspend them, she said.
Thomas-Greenfield told National Public Radio that the US expects action in the General Assembly as soon as possible this week, and possibly as early as Thursday.
Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, during a press briefing at the UN headquarters on the situation in Bucha, accused the Kiev regime, with active support from its Western sponsors, of promoting in Western mass media "fake news about alleged atrocities of Russian military forces.
From the very beginning, it has been clear that this is nothing else but yet another staged provocation aimed at discrediting and dehumanising the Russian military and levelling political pressure on Russia.
Not many of you know about the Russian military, but I assure you that the Russian military is nothing that it is being accused of, in particular what regards cruel atrocities' against the civilian population. It is not the case. It never was, and will never be, he said.
The Russian envoy asserted that Moscow has factual evidence to prove this point and it intends to present it to the Security Council as soon as possible so that the international community is not misled by the false narrative promoted by Kiev and its Western sponsors.
He said that there are no reports of atrocities which are accredited to the Russian military in Bucha, which happened before the Ukrainian army took control of the town.
Four days after the Russian military left the city of Bucha, there was not a single sign of any atrocities'. I repeat not a single reference to it, anywhere, Nebenzia said.
"The infamous video depicting bodies on the city roads only appeared on April 3. It is full of discrepancies and blatant lies. According to its authors, the bodies were lying on the streets for at least four days by the time the video was filmed.
However, the bodies are not stiffened. How is that possible? It is against the law of biology. The bodies do not have signs of decomposition known to forensic experts, including cadaver stains. The wounds contain no blood," the Russian ambassador added.
Though India abstained from voting on the resolution, it called for respecting "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of States and sought immediate cessation of "violence and hostilities", in comments that the sources said reflected a "sharper tone" and criticism of the Russian offensive.
At the crucial UN Security Council session on Friday, Russia used its veto power to block the US-sponsored resolution deploring in the "strongest terms" Russian "aggression" against Ukraine. Besides India, China and the United Arab Emirates too abstained from voting.
While abstaining from voting on the resolution, India issued an 'Explanation of Vote' (EoV) after the vote in which it called for "return to the path of diplomacy" and sought immediate cessation of "violence and hostilities".
India also told the UN Security Council that it has been in touch with all parties concerned and urged them to return to the negotiating table.
"The contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states," India said in the EoV said.
"All member states need to honour these principles in finding a constructive way forward. Dialogue is the only answer to settling differences and disputes, however daunting that may appear at this moment," it said.
Noting that it is deeply disturbed by the recent turn of developments in Ukraine, India urged that all efforts are made for the immediate cessation of violence and hostilities.
The sources said India's call for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and seeking an end to the ongoing "violence" is reflective of its criticism of the Russian action and a subtle change in its overall approach.
In India's three previous statements at the UN Security Council on the Ukraine crisis, there was no reference to the need for respecting the "sovereignty and territorial integrity" of states.
The sources said India has maintained its "consistent, steadfast and balanced" position on the matter that dialogue is the only answer to settle differences and disputes.
TS Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said dialogue is the only answer to settle differences and disputes and that no solution can ever arrive at cost of human lives.
In the 15 member UN Security Council, the resolution received 11 votes in favour of it, Russia opposed it and India, China and the United Arab Emirates abstained from the voting.
India also conveyed that the welfare and security of the Indian community, in particular stranded students and their evacuation from Ukraine, has been India's immediate priority.
The sources said India called on all member states to honour principles of international law and the United Nations Charter as these provide a constructive way forward.
They said India regretted that the path of diplomacy has been given up in resolving the crisis and insisted that it must return.
"By abstaining, India retained the option of reaching out to relevant sides in an effort to bridge the gap and find the middle ground with an aim to foster dialogue and diplomacy," said a source.
"An earlier draft of the resolution had proposed moving the resolution under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which provides the framework within which the Security Council may take enforcement action. However, this was dropped in the final version that was put to vote," it said.
The sources said India called for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and pitched for an immediate cessation of violence and hostilities as was conveyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Vladimir Putin.
In the midst of the escalating situation in Ukraine, Modi held a telephonic conversation with Putin on Thursday during which he appealed for ending violence, and called for concerted efforts from all sides to return to the path of diplomatic dialogue.
The sources said India has been in touch with all concerned parties and urged them to return to the negotiating table.
The draft resolution demanded Russia to immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all its troops.
Since Russia voted against the resolution (vetoed the resolution), it was not passed.
Speaking to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said the meeting will take place "possibly within the next 24 hours."
"We condemn in the strongest term this atrocity by the Israeli occupying forces using this massive fire power against civilians who have the right to demonstrate peacefully," Xinhua quoted Mansour as saying.
Mansour said 45 Palestinians were killed, including eight under the age of 16, and more than 2,000 were injured in violent clashes with Israeli forces on Monday when the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, which trigged the escalation of conflict at the Gaza border.
The escalation has brought the number of casualties since March 30, when the Palestinians first held the "Great Return March" protests, to almost 100 dead and more than 11,000 injured.
He further demanded international protection for the civilian population and called on the Security Council to condemn "this massacre" and to provide security to the Palestinians.
When asked about forming an independent investigation that he had earlier urged, Mansour said 14 members of the Security Council were receptive to the idea but one member "was obstructing the Council from doing so."
He added the UNHCR in Geneva, the world body's human rights organ, may undertake the task of establishing such an investigation commission.
Mansour said he expects the Palestinian leadership later Monday to decide on whether to refer to the recent events as war crimes, as recommended by the Palestinian National Council.
Russia will, most notably among other measures, suspend scientific and technical cooperation with individuals and institutions representing North Korea, according to the 39-page decree, XInhua reported.
On November 30, 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the Resolution 2321 in response to Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test on September 9.
In the UN document, the 15-nation council decided that Pyongyang should not supply, sell or transfer coal, iron and iron ore from its territory, but excluded transactions for livelihood purposes.
The council set an upper limit on Pyongyang's coal exporting and banned the sale of copper, nickel, silver, zinc and statues from North Korea.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, speaking at the Security Council meeting where the vote took place on Saturday, said: "Monday (July 31), we said that the time for talking was over and that it was time for action. Today you're going to see the action.
"It's going to hit hard but it's going to make a strong point to North Korea that all this ICBM and this nuclear irresponsibility has to stop," CNN quoted Haley as saying.
With 15 votes in favour, Resolution 2371 was passed unanimously.
The resolution targets North Korea's primary exports, including coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, seafood and other revenue streams, such as banks and joint ventures with foreign companies.
The sanctions will slash North Korea's annual export revenue of $3 billion by more than a third, according to a statement from Haley's office.
The resolution represents "the strongest sanctions ever imposed in response to a ballistic missile test", the statement said.
Pyongyang tested two ICBMs in July, claiming it now had the ability to hit the US.
Haley praised the unanimous vote on the resolution, saying that the UN "spoke with one voice".
"To have China stand with us, along with Japan and (South Korea) and the rest of the international community telling North Korea to do this, it's pretty impactful," the UN ambassador told CNN in an interview after the vote.
"This was a strong day in the UN, it was a strong day for the United States and it was a strong day for the international community. It was not a good day for North Korea."
In response, China's ambassador, Liu Jieyi, said the resolution showed that the world was "united in its position regarding the nuclear position on the Korean peninsula", the BBC reported.
UK ambassador Matthew Rycroft said: "North Korea bears full responsibility for the measures we have enacted today.
"It does not have to be this way. North Korea should forgo the path of provocation, forgo the path of further escalation."
A resolution needs nine votes in favour, and no vetoes by the US, China, Russia, France or Britain, to be adopted.
The measures would be the seventh set of UN sanctions imposed on North Korea since it first carried out a nuclear test in 2006.
The call by AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Thomas Kwesi Quartey came as African leaders were expected to adopt proposals for the continent to get two permanent seats at the expanded UN Security Council during their meeting on Monday and Tuesday at the 29th AU summit in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
"We have noticed that people are beginning to take Africa seriously because of the African Union," Quartey was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
"The more Africa is able to put its acts together and the more the continent is able to speak coherently with one voice, the more likely it is that people will be less able to ignore us," he added.
In 2005, Africa established a united position on UN reform, calling for the inclusion of two permanent and five non-permanent seats for African countries on the reformed UNSC and extension of veto powers (should they remain) to new permanent members.
Africa argued that in 1945, when the UN was being formed, most of Africa was not represented and that in 1963, when the first reform took place, Africa was represented but was not in a particularly strong position.
"There's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime," Haley told CNN in an interview airing on Sunday.
The Indian-origin diplomat's remarks came days after the US on April 6 unleashed 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase in a retaliating for the Assad-led government's alleged chemical weapons attack that killed nearly 80 persons in Idlib province.
Haley on Friday told a special session of the UN Security Council that the US was "prepared to do more" in Syria and that it was Washington's "vital national interest" to stop the use and spread of chemical weapons.
According to Haley, the Assad regime has committed atrocities on innocent Syrian civilians multiple times.
"It just -- if you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it's going to be hard to see a government that's peaceful and stable with Assad."
Syrian Deputy UN Ambassador Mounzer Mounzer denied the country's use of chemical weapons, stating at the UN session that Syria "would never use such weapons in any of its operations against armed terrorist groups".
Haley reiterated her statements about further actions in Syria in her interview to the CNN.
"If he needs to do more, he will do more," Haley said when asked if Trump would order more strikes.
"So, really, now what happens depends on how everyone responds to what happened in Syria, and make sure that we start moving towards a political solution, and we start finding peace in that area."
Haley said she thought a regime change would occur because "all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria".
Haley noted that ousting Assad was not the US's only priority.
"So, there's multiple priorities," she said. "It's -- getting Assad out is not the only priority. And so what we're trying to do is obviously defeat the IS. Secondly, we don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there."
"Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out, and then, finally, move towards a political solution, because at the end of the day, this is a complicated situation."
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday about the situation in Syria, a longtime Russian ally.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday called the US strike "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of the norms of international law".
Outlining the dangers to international peace emanating from cyberspace, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told the Security Council on Tuesday: "We need to adopt a collaborative rules-based approach in cyberspace and work towards ensuring its openness, stability and security."
UN's High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu also warned of the risks from cyberattacks and said that situations could develop that "can encourage states to adopt offensive postures for the hostile use of these technologies".
Because of this risk and the potential for "criminal groups and others" to create global destabilisation, she said that the Security Council should get involved in ensuring cybersecurity.
Shringla said: "The borderless nature of cyberspace, and more importantly anonymity of actors involved, has challenged the traditionally accepted concepts of sovereignty, jurisdiction and privacy.
"As a victim of terrorism, India has always underlined the need for member states to address and tackle the implications of terrorist exploitation of the cyber domain more strategically."
Some countries "are leveraging their expertise in cyberspace to achieve their political and security-related objectives and indulge in contemporary forms of cross-border terrorism", he said.
He added that cyber tools were being used to "compromise state security" through attacks on critical national infrastructure, including health and energy facilities and to "disrupt social harmony through radicalisation".
Terrorists have used social media to plan and execute terror attacks and for "virulent propaganda" to incite hatred and violence, recruit youth and raise funds, he said.
Shringla warned of the dangers from malware that can "create potential flashpoints between states".
"It is in the interest of the international community to ensure that all actors abide by their international obligations and commitments and not indulge in practices that could have potentially disruptive effects on global supply chains and trade in ICT (Information Communication Technology) product.
"There are widespread concerns that state and non-state actors are introducing vulnerabilities and harmful hidden functions, including through backdoor channels, into ICT networks and products.
"The Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on developments in ICT (OEWG) should be leveraged to find further common ground and improve upon the already agreed cyber norms and rules," he said.
The OEWG, set up by the General Assembly in 2018, submitted its final report this March.
It did not recommend specific rules or regulations for adoption, but outlined areas of consensus and suggested further consultations.
Shringla spoke of the positive potential of ICT citing the role of the Co-WIN platform in India's vaccination drive against coronavirus. He said that India was sharing it with partner countries.
The contrast between totalitarian countries like China, which he did not name, that have closed their cyberspace to outside influences and open societies like India came up in his speech when Shringla spoke of the vulnerabilities of nations that allow external cyber access.
While committing India to "an open, secure, free, accessible and stable cyberspace environment", he pointed out that "open societies have been particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns".
The dangers outlined by Shringla are widely manifest around the world.
In view of the dangers from ICT equipment being compromised with spyware, India has banned the use of some Chinese-made products.
There has been a proliferation of malware introduced into even computer systems used by the Pentagon.
Systems used in the US for petroleum distribution and for beef supply, as well as local governments, have been hit by cybercriminals to extort ransomware.
Washington has said that they operated from Russia.
Hospitals and health systems in the US and the UK have also been victims of cybercrime.
US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that countries should act against cybercriminals operating in their territories.
"Let me be clear: when a state is notified of harmful activity emanating from its own territory, it must take reasonable steps to address it. Given the transnational nature of cyberspace, this cooperation is essential," she said.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who presided over the meeting said: "Existing international law applies in cyberspace, with states accountable for any acts that contravene their obligations."
India also asked the international community to ensure that the forces of terrorism and extremism do not find sanctuaries and safe havens anywhere and at any level.
"We must not differentiate between good and bad terrorists, or play one group against the other. The Taliban, Haqqani Network, AI-Qaeda, Daesh, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad and others of their ilk are all terror organisations, many of them proscribed by the UN," Syed Akbaruddin, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said.
"The international community cannot remain silent. It is the international community's first and foremost duty to ensure that the forces of terrorism and extremism do not find sanctuaries and safe havens anywhere and at any level," he said in an apparent dig at Pakistan.
Participating in an open debate of the UN Security Council on Afghanistan, Akbaruddin said that these terrorist groups should be treated like terrorist organisations with no justifications offered for their activities.
Noting that the situation in Afghanistan has remained particularly painful and disturbing with security worsening and visible signs of withering away of the gains by the international community and Afghan people, the top Indian envoy said that the incessant attacks on hospitals, schools, funerals, or international development agencies, diplomatic missions are a matter of serious concern.
"The Security Council must act on the funds which the terrorists in Afghanistan are generating through their illicit activities. In this regard, we would like the Council to consider how the 1988 sanctions regime can be utilised and also leverage for progress in the peace process? These are significant instruments and must be utilised to their full capacity," he said.
"While making our collective efforts here at the UN or at other multilateral settings, we must be mindful to support the strengthening of Afghanistan's sovereignty and stability, the two things anti-Government terrorist elements are trying to undermine from their safe havens across the borders of Afghanistan," he said.
He said the multiple crises that have been inflicted on Afghanistan had made the country's territory attractive for criminal and terrorist groups, who are well connected to international terror and crime networks.
"These groups are stealing the resources of Afghanistan which ought to belong to the people of the country," he said.
Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani joined Akbaruddin in identifying terrorist safe havens across the border.
"The scourge of terrorism and violent extremism affecting Afghanistan is the product of a long-standing policy by a neighbouring State to keep Afghanistan unstable," he said.
"It has menaced Afghanistan for several decades now, with its roots located in terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens outside of my country," Rabbani said, adding that the new strategy of the United States for South Asia has generated new hope among people across the country.
"In this connection, we welcome the fact that the new strategy recognises the critical need to address the lingering problem of terrorist safe-havens and sanctuaries in our region; and for more determined efforts to end political, logistical and financial support enjoyed by terrorist groups," he said.
"Furthermore, the strategy's conditions based approach has addressed some uncertainties by reinforcing the right message that the international community's engagement will endure until Afghanistan becomes stable and secure," Rabbani said.
China, the closest ally of North Korea, accounts for about 90 per cent of Pyongyang's foreign trade.
Beijing has halted its imports of coal, iron ore, seafood and other goods, implementing UN sanctions imposed on North Korea for its provocative nuclear and missile tests.
As China is North Korea most important trading partner, the suspension of textile imports is expected to affect Pyongyang's income.
The Ministry of Commerce said it will implement UN Security Council Resolution 2375 by halting the export of liquefied natural gas and gas condensate to North Korea from today and limit exports of refined oil from October 1.
The ban on textile imports will be effective from today, it said.
Refined oil exports to North Korea from all UN members is capped at 500,000 barrels from October 1 to the end of the year and two million barrels annually from January 1, 2018.
China will suspend such exports once the total exports approaches the ceiling, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Exported refined oil products must be used fully on civil purposes, not for North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, or other activities banned by the UN Security Council, the ministry said.
A limited amount of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas, allowed under the UN resolution, would still be exported to North Korea.
The UN Sanctions followed recent missile and nuclear tests by the North Korean regime violating the previous resolutions.
China's latest tougher stance is expected to bring about a financial isolation for Pyongyang, cutting off its international transactions routed through Chinese banks.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump praised China for instructing its banks to cut off business with North Korea.
Last month, the US announced sanctions against five Chinese firms and one individual, two Singapore-based companies and three Russian citizens alleging that they supported North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
"Today, we are saying the world will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea. And today, the Security Council is saying that if the North Korean regime does not halt its nuclear program, we will act to stop it ourselves," the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said as the 15-membered UN body passed the resolution 2375 on North Korea.
"We are done trying to prod the regime to do the right thing. We are now acting to stop it from having the ability to continue doing the wrong thing," she said.
Haley said the international community is doing that by hitting North Korea's ability to fuel and fund its weapons program.
Noting that oil is the lifeblood of North Korea's effort to build and deliver a nuclear weapon, Haley said the resolution reduces almost 30 per cent of oil provided to North Korea by cutting off over 55 per cent of its gas, diesel, and heavy fuel oil.
"Further, today's resolution completely bans natural gas and other oil byproducts that could be used as substitutes for the reduced petroleum. This will cut deep," she said.
Haley said these are by far the strongest measures ever imposed on North Korea.
"They give us a much better chance to halt the regime's ability to fuel and finance its nuclear and missile programs.
But we all know these steps only work if all nations implement them completely and aggressively," she said.
When these new stronger sanctions are added to those passed last month, over 90 percent of North Korea s publicly reported exports are now fully banned.
Moreover, this resolution also puts an end to the regime making money from the 93,000 North Korean citizens it sends overseas to work and heavily taxes, she noted.
This ban will eventually starve the regime of an additional USD 500 million or more in annual revenues, she added.
Beyond the USD 1.3 billion in annual revenues we will cut from North Korea, new maritime authorities will help us stop them from obtaining funds by smuggling coal and other prohibited materials around the world by ship, the top American diplomat said.
The resolution bans all North Korean textile exports.
Textile exports North Korea's largest economic sector that the Security Council had not previously restricted earned North Korea an average of USD 760 million in the past three years.
The resolution requires the end of all joint ventures with North Korea.
This will not only starve the regime of any revenues generated through such arrangements, it will now stop all future foreign investments and technology transfers to help North Korea's nascent and weak commercial industries, a US fact sheet said.
In a press statement issued Sunday here, the Security Council also demanded the immediate release of Japanese citizen Kenji Goto, Xinhua reported.
"The members of the Security Council stressed that those responsible for the killing of Haruna Yukawa shall be held accountable, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with Japan and all other relevant authorities in this regard," said the statement.
A video released late Saturday suggested that Japanese hostage Haruna Yukawa held by the Islamic State (IS) militants was killed.
The new video came after a clip showed Tuesday by IS militants that demanded 200 million US dollars for ransom of the two Japanese hostages within 72 hours.
The prerogative and authority of the 193-member General Assembly, "which is the closest institution to a world parliament," have been "progressively undermined by the Security Council through its frequent attempts to redefine its scope of competence through wider and permissive interpretations of what constitutes a threat to international peace and security", K. Nagaraj Naidu, India's Deputy Permanent Representative, said on Monday.
The Council is "engaging in discussions on issues that clearly fall within the purview of the General Assembly", he added.
But at the same time, he said, "a part of the blame for this situation must also be taken by the General Assembly and its member states for focusing on procedures rather than addressing the substantive issues".
He said "the General Assembly must be in the vanguard of global agenda-setting" and "take the lead in setting the global agenda and in restoring the centrality of the UN in formulating multilateral approaches to resolving transnational issues".
For this, he said, "The political will and commitment of member states are required to reinforce the role and authority of the Assembly as mandated by the UN Charter".
"A revitalised General Assembly must focus on substantive deliberations rather than spending considerable time and resources on procedural issues," he added.
He, however, did not give any example of the Assembly's focus on procedures at the cost of substantive issues during his brief speech at the session on the role and authority of the General Assembly.
An instance of it is the long-stalled negotiations on Council reforms in the General Assembly that have failed to make headway because of opposition from a small minority of members to even adopting a negotiating text to conduct meaningful negotiations.
India has in the past criticised what it it called the "mission creep" of the 15-member Security Council.
Even while it has been unable to deal with the urgent threats to international peace like Syria because the veto powers of the permanent members force it into inaction, the Security Council has started to take up issues like climate change by asserting that they have the potential to impact international peace and security.
Gokhale, who is on a two-day visit to Beijing, held extensive talks on Monday with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the issue of listing Azhar as an international terrorist by the UN Security Council (UNSC).
After the meeting, sources indicated that China, which has been blocking the move at the UNSC, could ease its hard position.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: "We have shared with China all evidences of terrorist activities of Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar. It is now for the 1267 Sanctions Committee (of the UN Security Council) and other authorized bodies of the UN to take a decision on listing of Masood Azhar (as international terrorist)."
He was responding to queries on discussions that the Foreign Secretary held in Beijing with regard to proscribing of Azhar.
China has been blocking India's move, which is supported by countries like the US, the UK and France, at the UNSC to enlist Azhar as an international terrorist.
Last month, Beijing placed a latest "technical hold", for the fourth time, on a US-sponsored resolution against Azhar, a move that India called "disappointing".
"India will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice," the MEA spokesperson said.
JeM has been responsible for a number of terror attacks in India over the last two decades, including the one on Parliament on December 13, 2001.
There has been an increased pitch for proscribing Azhar in the aftermath of the ghastly Pulwama terror attack on February 14, which was claimed by JeM.
Gokhale, in his opening remarks at his meeting with Wang and Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, said China should be "sensitive" to India's concerns.
"We will work together with the Chinese side to deepen mutual understanding, strengthen mutual trust to implements the decisions that are taken by the leaders and do it in a manner where we are sensitive to each other's concerns," Gokhale said.
Gokhale, who was earlier India's Ambassador to China, said both sides were working to implement what was agreed between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Wuhan summit last year.
"It's been a year since our leaders met in Wuhan and my colleagues...and I have been following up on efforts to implement the understandings that were reached at the meeting.
"Last year, we had very brisk political exchanges including your visit to Delhi for the first high-level meeting for people to people exchange was an important development. And my Minister (Foreign) looks forward to coming for the second meeting in China later this year," he added.
Wang stressed the need for India and China to step up strategic communication and cooperation.
"China and India are two major countries and neighbours. They are also two emerging market countries and are each other's emerging partners.
"In this sense, it's very important for the two countries to work together to increase strategic communications, even the geopolitical trust and strategic cooperation on international and regional issues."
"Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in @UN Sanctions list," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
A proposal to declare Azhar as an international terrorist was taken by the UNSC Sanctions Committee 1267, nearly three months after the JeM carried out a ghastly terror attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama district of Kashmir.
Earlier, the proposal was being blocked by China, which lifted its "technical hold" on Wednesday.
Taiwan Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) Representative, Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien said India should play a key role in the UNSC and that it was "unfair" that the country was not a permanent member of the powerful world body.
"The UN has 200 countries as members but only 5 countries have veto power. It is too small and too little to represent the whole members," he told reporters here.
The veto power-holding countries are the US, UK, Russia, France and China.
"The UNSC must be reconstructed and India must play a very very important role in it. This is unfair that India is not there," Chung-Kwang Tien said.
The Representative of Taiwan, over which China lays claim of territorial right, underscored the need for curtailing China's expansionist designs.
"China has gone too far... It has issues with India too -- border issue, trade imbalance issue and issue related to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)," he said.
Referring to the efforts India had to make to ensure China ended blocking of a proposal at the UNSC to list Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, he said: "How many years have you have been fighting for."
To a question about India making efforts to build friendly relations with China, he said: "You need to have good relations with your neighbours but please, have parallel relations with others. You make friends not at the cost of other friends."
He noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Taiwan when he was a BJP General Secretary and said he knows the situation.
"Relationship with Taiwan is a win-win situation (for India)," he said and spoke about the benefits that the relationship can have.
He said India and Taiwan have signed a Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.
"Taiwan is using soft power to build ties with countries... Economic ties are important along with diplomatic ties," he said.
To a question, he said: "Whether we will bow to China? That is not going to happen."
"In the light of interest expressed by members of the diplomatic community in Delhi, senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs are briefing the envoys of several countries, including P-5, on proposals related to Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and administrative reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir that were introduced in Parliament today," said a source.
"It was, inter alia, highlighted that the proposals which are currently under consideration of Parliament are internal to India. These are aimed at providing good governance, promoting social justice and ensuring economic development in Jammu and Kashmir," sources added.
On Monday, the Centre government scrapped Article 370 of the Constitution that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir and converted the state into a Union Territory with a legislature. It also split the state by hiving off Ladakh region and making it into a Union Territory without a legislature.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood summoned the Indian High Commissioner to the Foreign Office and conveyed a strong demarche on the announcements made and actions taken by the Government of India with regard to Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir today, a statement from the Foreign Office said.
Mahmood conveyed Pakistan's "unequivocal rejection of these illegal actions as they are in breach of international law and several UN Security Council resolutions".
He stressed Pakistan's "resolute condemnation of the unlawful actions aimed at further consolidating the illegal occupation of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK)".
He also condemned the "preceding pre-meditated steps such as complete lock-down of IOK, deployment of additional 180,000 troops, imposition of curfew, house arrest of Kashmiri leaders and suspension of communication services, among others", the statement said.
He emphasised Pakistan's consistent opposition to all Indian attempts to change the demographic structure and final status of Indian Kashmir.
Mahmood called upon India to "halt and reverse its unlawful and destabilizing actions", ensure full compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, and refrain from any further action that could entail serious implications.
He also reiterated that Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to the indigenous legitimate Kashmiri people's struggle for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.
While talking to a private news channel, Chaudhry said that Pakistan would never tolerate the "unilateral decision" taken by India on Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister said that if war was imposed on Pakistan, a "befitting response would be given to India".
"We are also approaching the UN Security Council over issue," Chaudhry was quoted as saying by Dunya News.
Qureshi, who arrived here in the Chinese capital early Friday to hold consultations in the wake of India revoking special status of Jammu and Kashmir, apprised officials in Beijing about Pakistan's concerns and reservations.
In an "urgent visit to the ally nation", Qureshi met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and informed the latter of India's "illegal move". The two held talks for two and a half hours, Pakistani media reported.
Addressing the media following his meeting with Wang, Qureshi said Pakistan had decided to go to the UNSC over India's "shocking move" and that Beijing would fully support Islamabad.
The Sino-Pak friendship was everlasting, the minister noted, and that Pakistanis should continue being proud of it.
He stressed that his Chinese counterpart had completely supported Pakistan's stance on Kashmir and agreed that India's move was unilateral.
The Chinese Foreign Minister also agreed that Kashmir "was and remained a disputed matter".
Earlier, while speaking to a private television channel, Qureshi said the Indian government can stage a Pulwama-like terrorist act or drama to avoid the world's attention from the grave situation in the occupied valley.
"The entire world has condemned the unconstitutional move of the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] government to revoke the constitutional status of held Kashmir," the Pakistan Foreign Minister said.
An official statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after a meeting between visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi here on Friday said that Beijing was seriously concerned about the latest escalation of tensions in Kashmir, The Express Tribune reported.
Qureshi, who arrived in the Chinese capital early Friday to hold consultations in the wake of India revoking special status of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week, apprised officials in Beijing about Pakistan's concerns and reservations.
"The Kashmir issue is a dispute left from the colonial history. It should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement," the statement quoted Wang as saying.
"China believes that unilateral actions that will complicate the situation should not be taken."
Wang stressed that as all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan have understood and supported each other on issues concerning "our respective core interests".
In a series of Twitter posts, Foreign Minister Qureshi said he thanked his Chinese counterpart for a meeting on a short notice.
"Today I had a strong and conclusive meeting with State Counsellor and Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi. Pakistan shares a bond of brotherhood with China as further evidenced in the meeting today where China reassured Pakistan of it's support and commitment.
"China supports Pakistan's repeated calls for peace and stability and we will work together to highlight the voice of Kashmiris to the world."
Qureshi added that China was Pakistan's friend that has long been trusted, and that friendship between the two nations was rock solid. He believed that China would stand up for justice on the Kashmir issue, reports The Express Tribune.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Friday called on India and Pakistan to resolve their disputes through dialogue and negotiations and jointly uphold peace and stability in the region.
Regarding Pakistan's decision to downgrade diplomatic relations and suspension of trade with India, she said that Beijing noted relevant statement by Pakistan.
"The pressing priority is that the relevant party should stop unilaterally changing the status quo and avoid escalation of tension."
The UN diplomat told PTI that a request for such a meeting was submitted very recently, but no date has yet been scheduled for it.
"China asked for closed consultations on the Security Council agenda item 'India Pakistan Question'. The request was in reference to the Pakistani letter to Security Council President," the diplomat said.
Pakistan formally called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss India revoking the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi recently said.
The diplomat said that China also submitted a formal request for such a meeting but Poland has to consult and take into account preferences of other Council members before deciding on time and date for the meeting.
The official said that so far no final decision on the time of the meeting had been made and Friday morning is the "earliest realistic option" for the meeting.
Qureshi has sent a formal letter to the president of the Security Council, Polish Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, through country's Permanent Representative Maleha Lodhi to convene the meeting. Qureshi said the letter will also be shared with all members of the UNSC.
Qureshi had said he sent a formal letter to the president of the UNSC through Permanent Representative Lodhi to convene the meeting.
"I have requested in the letter that a special meeting of the Security Council should be called to discuss those actions of India which we consider as illegal and against the UN resolutions," he said.
Qureshi had air-dashed to Beijing for consultation with the Chinese leadership on the issue of raising the Kashmir issue at the UNSC.
He had also said that China backed Pakistan on the issue and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang told him he believed "China will stand up for justice on the Kashmir issue".
During his bilateral meeting with China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Monday in Beijing, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed that the decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter for India.
He said the issue related to changes in a temporary provision of the Constitution of India and was the sole prerogative of the country.
Jaishankar noted that the legislative measures were aimed at promoting better governance and socio-economic development and there was no implication for either the external boundaries of India or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
"India was not raising any additional territorial claims. The Chinese concerns in this regard were therefore misplaced," he said.
Jaishankar told Wang that these changes had no bearing on Pakistan as it was an internal matter.
"It did not impact the LoC. Where India Pakistan relations are concerned, Chinese side should base its assessment on realities. India, as a responsible power, had shown restraint in face of provocative Pakistani rhetoric and actions. India has always stood for normalisation of the ties in an atmosphere free of terror," he said.
After India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K)special status on August 5 and announced the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, Pakistan announced that it will approach the UN Security Council against New Delhi's decision.
India has categorically told the international community that its move to scrap Article 370 of the Constitution removing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter and has also advised Pakistan to "accept the reality".
Wang is scheduled to visit Islamabad on September 7 amid the hue and cry raised by Pakistan over the Indian government's decision to end special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August.
After his visit to Islamabad, the Chinese Foreign Minister wanted to travel to New Delhi but India saw it as an attempt to hyphenate the India-Pakistan relationship and hence asked him to reschedule it, the sources told IANS.
The sources, however, said it was unlikely to have any impact on the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India later this year.
India is of the firm view that it will not allow any hyphenation of its relations with Pakistan and hence has been preventing such attempts. It asserts that any foreign leader can visit New Delhi on a standalone trip, without trying to hyphenate the ties.
The sources said India has, in fact, asked leaders of some other countries too not to come to New Delhi if they combined it with their trip to Pakistan.
Pakistan has been desperately trying to internationalise the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and rope in some country for mediation. Its attempts, however, have failed as all countries have maintained that it is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
China, which Pakistan considers its "all-weather friend", has already tried once to get the UN to get into the issue of Jammu and Kashmir after applicability of Article 370 in the state was abrogated in August.
It got the matter discussed 'informally' once by the UN Security Council, which, however, refrained from issuing any formal statement on the matter.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in August visited China and during talks with Wang he had said the decision regarding Jammu and Kashmir and carving out of Union Territory of Ladakh would have no impact on the ongoing India-China boundary talks.
"The issue (Aksai Chin) came up in terms of when they were referring to what they thought the impact of Article 370 was going to be and how it could impact India-China boundary talks. I told them that it does not change the international boundaries or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. I conveyed our position to him which was that we maintain our international boundary according to our map," Jaishankar had said.
Jaishankar's visit was in the context of preparing the ground for the visit of the Chinese President to India.
The 15-member council on Thursday first voted on the text drafted by Belgium, Germany and Kuwait.
The draft received 12 positive votes, but was unable to be adopted because of "No" votes from Russia and China, which have veto power, Xinhua reported.
A draft resolution needs at least nine positive votes, on the condition of no negative votes from the five permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- to pass.
The Security Council then voted on a competing draft resolution submitted by China and Russia. The text received two positive votes, failing to gain the necessary majority for adoption.
Amid India's consistent growth as a potent power on global stage, the point was made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar before an influential Washington audience after a major foreign policy speech at a top US think tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
If you have... a United Nations where the most populous country in the world -- may be in 15 years -- with the third largest economy is not in the decision making of the United Nations, I grant you, it affects the country concerned.
"But I would also suggest it affects the United Nations' credibility, said Jaishankar in response to a question after his speech.
Obviously, we are biased. We believe we have a good case, he asserted.
It's not just the Security Council. Look, say how the peacekeeping operations (are being undertaken) around, who actually kind of decide. There are other angles. I mean, you could argue, who gives the budget and therefore that should be a factor. That's a reasonable proposition, he said.
This is one of the key challenges facing the world today, which is all that we took as given over the last 70 years. I'm not suggesting they're going to disappear or they'll become irrelevant, but surely things are happening beyond them. And that is creating a new kind of international relations. It's something which we all need to get real about, Jaishankar asserted.
Noting that one doesn't have to look too far into the future, he said one actually needs to look back into the past.
Just look back at the last five years, 10 years, 15 years. What we have seen is that many institutions have come under stress because they've lost legitimacy, vitality, (and) efficiency, he said.
If significant countries don't get the substantial interests sorted out, they start looking elsewhere. If you look at the trade, the fact is that you have a proliferation of free trade agreements today and that is because there is the feeling that the global trading arrangement was not going to happen, he said.
We see that often in security situations (also) where, if you look at -- may be the last decade or two -- in the Middle East, you actually have coalitions of countries, partly because they are the only countries who have an interest or in some cases they couldn't convince other countries or in some cases they went to the United Nations (but) didn't get the way and so decided they'd do something else, he said.
This is the reality, he said.
I accept, I mean, it would not be my case that I would abandon an institution and say an ad hoc solution is preferable to an institution.
"Everybody's first choice would be the normative choice. But what you have is the reality of countries, which look beyond or look around, said Jaishankar.
According to Xinhua news agency, the members of the Security Council on Monday reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, said a Security Council press statement.
The members underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all countries to cooperate actively with the Government of Afghanistan and all other relevant authorities in this regard.
More than 60 civilians were killed and nearly 60 civilians were injured in Friday's blast that took place inside a mosque in the Haska Mena district in Nangarhar Province, said the statement.
China had sought a discussion on Kashmir following New Delhi's reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir state, revoking its special status on August 5. However, the UNSC members refused to oblige China to have a public discussion. Instead, the UNSC held a private discussion on Kashmir under a provision which did not require voting.
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said that Beijing has been trying to seek another discussion in the UNSC, but only to keep India "busy" at several fronts.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India to hold boundary talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval this week. Incidentally, protests have erupted across India over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which grants citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in the neighbouring Islamic nations.
A close ally of Pakistan, China submitted a request only after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote a very hostile letter complaining about India to the UNSC.
Islamabad, which has been perpetually paranoid about India, complained that New Delhi was taking aggressive measures against Pakistan.
Among the UNSC permanent members, France and UK, and non-permanent members Germany and Poland have shown no keen interest in holding another discussion on Kashmir, sources said.
The discussion on Kashmir was relevant in August but now that the valley is back to its routine with most of the services restored, there is not much relevance, a source said.
(IANS)
Zarif on Monday said the United States had declined to issue him a visa to attend the UN Security Council's meeting scheduled in New York later this week to discuss US-Iran tensions over the killing of prominent Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike in Baghdad on Friday.
Soleimani, 62, the head of Iran's elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, was killed in a US drone attack while leaving Baghdad International Airport last week, sparking fears of a new war in the Middle East.
The strike also killed deputy chief of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
"They fear that someone comes to the US and reveals realities," Zarif was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera TV in Tehran on Tuesday.
When asked for his reaction, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told journalists here that "to provide convenience including visa is the responsibility of the US as a host country".
"We urge the US to fulfil obligations as a host country and to provide for the convenience to the public services personnel of the relevant country to attend the UN meetings," he said.
On Monday, Geng criticised the US for the tensions with Iran saying the US "adventurism" aggravated the crisis in the Middle East and urged all parties to exercise restraint. He said Beijing was "highly concerned" over the worsening situation.
Iran has vowed to avenge the general's killing, and US President Donald Trump has threatened "major retaliation" if any American targets are hit.
(PTI)
One delegation that epitomises the dark arts has, yet again, displayed its wares by peddling falsehoods earlier today. These we dismiss with disdain, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said on Thursday.
"My simple response to Pakistan is even though it is late, neighbour, heal thyself of your malaise. There are no takers here for your malware, Akbaruddin said, addressing the UN Security Council open debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security Upholding the United Nations Charter.'
Akbaruddin's strong response came after Pakistan's envoy to the UN Munir Akram raked up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir while addressing the Council during the open debate.
The Pakistani envoy also raised the abrogation of Article 370, communications lockdown in Kashmir and referred to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan after aerial combat in February last year after New Delhi had conducted counter-terror operations in Pakistan's Balakot.
Akram called on the Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to act decisively to prevent a disastrous war between Pakistan and India.
Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcating it into two union territories.
Reacting sharply to India's decision, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled India's high commissioner.
India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.
In his statement to the Council, Akbaruddin said that it is increasingly acknowledged that the 15-nation Security Council faces crises of identity and legitimacy, as well as relevance and performance.
The globalisation of terror networks; the weaponisation of new technologies; the inability to counter those resorting to subversive statecraft are showing up the shortcomings of the Council.
Akbaruddin noted that in a world constantly in flux, the challenges to international peace and security are a step ahead of the systems designed to tackle them. It is evident now that fires are all around the horizon. To undertake a fair evaluation of the available mechanisms without belittling their importance, we need to ask ourselves are they still fit for the purpose of implementing the fundamental principles of the Charter?
He underscored the need for the Council to be part of the political tool kit to address ongoing and future threats to global peace and security, emphasising that the Council should represent current global realities and be fit for purpose.
The answer to the crises the Council faces, lies in invoking and working through Charter provisions that provide for reform and change. We need a Council that is representative of current global realities, credible, and legitimate, rather than one that rests merely on the claim that it existed at the inception. The Council needs to be fit for purpose for the 21s?t? century.
Alluding to Mahatma Gandhi's quote of One must care about the world one will not see', Akbaruddin said resilient organisations are those that are not resistant to change, or else current emergencies can turn into catastrophes, even while we continue our endless prevarication. Humanity, it is said, progresses when it collectively rises to its responsibility to the future. It is now time to do that.
The Indian envoy said there is a case to be made for innovations that enlarge the vision of global rule of law. It is possible that just as Generals often re-fight the last war, the drafters of the Charter responded to the factors and forces that led to World War II, without anticipating what we are now faced with.
Further he said notwithstanding all its imperfections, the UN Charter is still the main incarnation of the global spirit. Moving away from a formal system which is well understood, to one which is based on untested interpretations, may have unexpected consequences. Justice dispensed on the fly may come to be resented.
(PTI)
China, Pakistan's 'all-weather ally', stood alone in the Pakistani corner to get the Security Council to focus on the Kashmir issue.
The attempt failed as other member countries felt Kashmir is a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan.
Earlier on Wednesday, China made the fresh pitch to raise the Kashmir issue under "other matters" during closed consultations in the Security Council Consultations Room.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin said: "We once again saw an effort made by one member state of the UN, fail in plain view of all others".
"We are happy that neither alarmist scenario painted by the representatives of Pakistan nor any of the baseless allegations made repeatedly by representatives of Pakistan in the UN fora were found to be credible today," Akbaruddin told PTI.
"We are glad that the effort was viewed as a distraction and it was pointed by many friends that bilateral mechanisms are available to raise and address issues that Pakistan may have in its ties with India," he said.
A European source, heading into the Security Council meeting, had described the discussions on Kashmir during the closed consultations to be "low key."
A top European diplomat said the issue should be resolved bilaterally and it was a "domestic affair."
Akbaruddin further said that "Pakistan's practice of using false pretences to distract from addressing the malaise that afflicts it has run its course. We hope that Pakistan pays heed to the clear signals sent out here today and focusses on the hard tasks it has to address in order to ensure normal relations with India."
Coming out of the meeting, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said: "We had a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir. And I'm sure you all know that Foreign Minister of Pakistan wrote letters to the Security Council asking the Security Council to pay attention to the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The issue of India and Pakistan has always been on the agenda of the Security Council and today we have also seen some tensions, so the Security Council had a briefing and heard at the briefing from the Secretariat concerning the current situation on the ground. Members exchanged views on that".
Zhang later said China "has stated our position very clearly. We remain concern about the situation on the ground (in Kashmir)."
When asked if the meeting advanced anything, he said: " I am sure the meeting will be helping both parties to understand the risk of further escalation and will encourage them to approach to each other and to have dialogue and to seek means, to seek solutions through dialogue. I think that will be helpful".
The current move by China was the third such attempt since August when the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was scrapped by the government, and the state was bifurcated into two union territories.
In August, China pushed for a UNSC meeting on Kashmir after the government scrapped J-K's special status. However, the meeting did not yield the desired results for China as the member-states maintained that India's move was an internal issue.
Last month, France, the US, the UK and Russia foiled an attempt by China to discuss Kashmir at a closed-door meeting of the UNSC.
China has been critical of India's reorganisation of J-K and has particularly criticised New Delhi for making Ladakh a union territory. China lays claim over several parts of Ladakh.
India's decisions on Kashmir had also cast a shadow over Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India in October for the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Notwithstanding the acrimony over the issue between the two countries, Modi and Xi held "successful" talks in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapura, signalling a recalibration of bilateral ties.
(PTI)
Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev made the statement in response to several questions regarding Kashmir at a press briefing here. The remark comes a day after the UN Security Council once again rejected China's request to discuss Kashmir, at the behest of Pakistan.
One of the fundamental principles of bilateral relationship is to refrain from intervening in internal affairs, Kudashev said at the embassy here.
In response to another question whether he would like to visit Kashmir given the doubts raised by Western press following the nullification of special status of Kashmir on August 5, the envoy said that he was not particularly keen on visiting Kashmir.
"There is no reason for me to travel. Those who have concerns and doubts can visit. But we don't interfere in internal issues and constitutional matters of countries," he said.
Targeting the US, Ambassador Kudashev readout Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent address to the federal assembly in Moscow and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's speech at Observer Research Foundation's conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Both Putin and Lavrov in their speeches had censured the US for being unilateral and promoting unipolarity under the garb of "rule-based world order".
Admiring India, Kudashev said that India's foreign policy isn't to contain anyone and if the world followed that, it would be a better place.
(IANS)
"The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," he told the council in a virtual briefing on Thursday, reported Xinhua news agency.
"Indeed, a signal of unity and resolve from the council would count for a lot at this anxious time."
To prevail against the pandemic, the world will need to work together. That means heightened solidarity, and it means having the necessary resources, said Guterres.
Also Read: COVID-19 Crisis: UN Chief Defends WHO After Donald Trump Threat
The financial situation of the United Nations remains perilous, and it has only enough cash to fund peacekeeping operations through the end of June and no capacity to pay troop- and police-contributing countries, he said.
While COVID-19 is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching, he warned.
"We are already seeing its ruinous social and economic impacts, as governments around the world struggle to find the most effective responses to rising unemployment and the economic downturn. But the pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security -- potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease."
In his briefing through video teleconference, Guterres reminded the Security Council of eight concerns that come under its purview: the maintenance of international peace and security.
First, the pandemic threatens to further erode trust in public institutions, particularly if citizens perceive that their authorities mishandled the response or are not transparent on the scope of the crisis.
Second, the economic fallout of this crisis could create major stressors, particularly in fragile societies, less developed countries and those in transition. Economic instability will have particularly devastating impacts for women, who make up the vast majority of those sectors worst affected. The large numbers of female-headed households in conflict-settings are especially vulnerable to economic shocks.
Third, the postponement of elections or referenda, or the decision to proceed with a vote -- even with mitigation measures -- can create political tensions and undermine legitimacy. Such decisions are best made following broad consultation aimed at consensus. This is not a time for political opportunism.
Fourth, in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil. This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic.
Fifth, the threat of terrorism remains alive. Terrorist groups may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments is turned toward the pandemic.
Sixth, the weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic provide a window onto how a bioterrorist attack might unfold and may increase its risks. Non-state groups could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.
Also Read: COVID-19: World Economy With Exception Of India, China Will Go Into Recession: UN
Seventh, the crisis has hindered international, regional and national conflict resolution efforts, exactly when they are needed most. Many peace processes have stalled as the world responds to COVID-19. Restrictions on movement may continue to affect the work of various confidence-based mechanisms, as well as the ability to engage in crisis diplomacy to de-escalate potential conflicts.
Eighth, the pandemic is triggering or exacerbating various human rights challenges. "We are seeing stigma, hate speech, and white supremacists and other extremists seeking to exploit the situation. We are witnessing discrimination in accessing health services. Refugees and internally displaced persons are particularly vulnerable. And there are growing manifestations of authoritarianism, including limits on the media, civic space and freedom of expression."
The world faces its gravest test since the founding of the United Nations, said, Guterres.
The world is struggling to absorb the unfolding shock: the jobs that have disappeared and businesses that have suffered; the fundamental and drastic shift to daily lives, and the fear that the worst is still yet to come, especially in the developing world and countries already battered by armed conflict.
"This is the fight of a generation, and the raison d'etre of the United Nations itself," he told the Security Council.
The fatality rate of COVID-19 is estimated to be 10 times higher than influenza, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Speaking at a Mission briefing on COVID-19 from Geneva on Thursday, the WHO chief said that so far, more than 1.3 million people have been infected, and almost 80,000 people have lost their lives, reported Xinhua news agency.
"This pandemic is much more than a health crisis. It requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response," he said.
He added that the world is yet to see the devastation it could wreak in poorer and more vulnerable countries. Without help and action now, poor countries and vulnerable communities could suffer massive devastation.
Also Read: COVID-19: US Starts Clinical Trial Of HCQ For Coronavirus Treatment
"The window for containing the virus at the sub-national and national level is closing in many countries. The infection numbers in Africa are relatively small now, but they are growing fast," he warned.
"As I said in the press conference yesterday, we must quarantine politicizing this virus at national and global levels. We have to work together, and we have no time to waste," he added.
(IANS)
In a statement on Wednesday, the US Mission to the UN denounced that the actions of the Chinese authorities "fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and freedoms as guaranteed under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, which was registered with the UN as a legally binding treaty, and the Basic Law", reports Efe news
"This is a matter of urgent global concern that implicates international peace and security, and warrants the immediate attention of the UN Security Council," the delegation added.
Washington said that on Wednesday it requested a virtual UNSC meeting but that China "refused to allow" it to go ahead, which it considered "another example of the Chinese Communist Party's fear of transparency and international accountability for its actions".
The Chinese delegation responded almost immediately via Twitter, and said that the proposed meeting was "baseless" and that "legislation on national security for Hong Kong is purely China's internal affairs".
"It has nothing to do with the mandate of the Security Council," said China, telling the US to "immediately stop its power politics and bullying practices."
"Facts prove again and again that the US is the trouble maker of the world," it added.
The clash is yet another episode in the confrontation between the two superpowers and comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress earlier in the day that Hong Kong could no longer be considered autonomous from China, which may have serious commercial implications for Beijing given that preferential trading terms depend on this autonomy.
The US mission accused Beijing of trying to "exploit the current global health pandemic to distract the world from its intended assault on Hong Kong and abrogation of its own commitments to the Hong Kong people".
"This action, coupled with the (People's Republic of China's) gross cover-up and mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis, its constant violations of its international human rights commitments, and its unlawful behaviour in the South China Sea, should make obvious to all that Beijing is not behaving as a responsible UN member state," it added.
On May 22, a resolution to "prevent, frustrate and punish" threats to national security in Hong Kong was presented to China's legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC).
The draft legislation would outlaw acts of secession, subversion and terrorism.
The resolution is expected to be passed on May 28, authorising the NPC Standing Committee, China's top legislative body, to craft the law and impose it on Hong Kong, bypassing the city's legislature.
(IANS)
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Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections held Wednesday.
There were 192 Member States present for voting and the 2/3 required majority was 128. India garnered 184 votes. Canada lost the elections.
“Member States elect India to the non-permanent seat of the Security Council for the term 2021-22 with overwhelming support. India gets 184 out of the 192 valid votes polled,” India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted.
In a one-of-a-kind election amid #COVID19, #UNGA elects @IndiaUNNewYork, @MexOnu, @irishmissionun, & @NorwayUN as non-permanent members of the Security Council for 2-year terms.
A second round of voting will be held Thursday to fill the last vacant seat. https://t.co/svznemQth6 pic.twitter.com/HCzomD18Yb
— United Nations (@UN) June 17, 2020
India will sit in the most powerful UN organ, for two years beginning on January 1, along with the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US as well as non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.
The two-year terms of Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa are ending this year.
To be elected to the Council, candidate countries need a two-thirds majority of ballots of Member States that are present and voting in the Assembly.
India was a candidate for a non-permanent seat from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term. Its victory was a given since it was the sole candidate vying for the lone seat from the grouping.
New Delhi's candidature was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan, in June last year.
Previously, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Council for the years 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and most recently in 2011-2012.
The UN General Assembly on Wednesday conducted elections for President of the 75th session of the Assembly, five non-permanent members of the Security Council and members of the Economic and Social Council under special voting arrangements put in place here due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
Turkish diplomat and politician Volkan Bozkir was elected as President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly. He was the endorsed candidate from among the Western European and other States.
The elections began at 9 am Wednesday and unlike previous years, when the sprawling General Assembly hall would be packed with UN envoys, diplomats and staff during the ballot, this year presence in the UNGA hall was sparse due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
UN diplomats, staff and other personnel arrived at the General Assembly hall wearing masks and immediately left the venue after casting their ballots.
In adherence to social distancing guidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 193 UN Member States were allotted different time slots to cast their votes in the General Assembly Hall for the crucial elections.
Eight-time slots were allocated to Member States to cast their ballots starting at 9 AM, in adherence to social distancing guidelines. The voting continued well in the afternoon, with an additional 30-minute time slot for voters who were unable to visit the GA hall during the specific time slot communicated to them. The time slot for India to cast its ballot was 11:30 am-12noon.
President of the UN General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande oversaw the proceedings in the General Assembly Hall and the tellers also observed the whole process.
For the two vacant seats from among the African and Asia-Pacific States, Djibouti, India and Kenya were the three candidates. For the one vacant seat from among the Latin American and Caribbean States, one endorsed candidate was Mexico. For the two vacant seats from among the Western European and other States, Canada, Ireland and Norway were the three candidates.
The 15-member Security Council has five permanent members - the US, the UK, France, Russia and China - and 10 non-permanent.
Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term. The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis as follows: five for African and Asian States; one for Eastern European States; two for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two for Western European and other States. To be elected to the Council, candidate countries need a two-thirds majority of ballots of the Member States that are present and voting in the Assembly.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti had said that India's presence in the Security Council will help bring to the world its ethos of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'.
"India's journey with the United Nations is quite a remarkable one. As a founding member of the United Nations, India's contribution to implementing the goals of the United Nations Charter and to the evolution of UN specialised agencies and programmes has been substantial. In many ways, quite extraordinary,” Tirumurti had said in a video message ahead of the elections.
India wins the United Nations Security Council elections as a non-permanent member from the Asia-Pacific category; it was standing unopposed from the block for 2021-22 term. This is for the 8th time that India has been elected to UNSC: Ambassador TS Tirumurti @IndiaUNNewYork pic.twitter.com/GljSEueGgU
— OTV (@otvnews) June 18, 2020
"I'm confident that at a time when we are poised to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and later the 75th anniversary of India's independence in 2022, India's presence in the Security Council will help bring to the world our ethos that the world is one family - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” he had said.
India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century.
(PTI)
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Afghanistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Adela Raz wrote to the President of the Security Council, Germany, to report on the most recent violations of the Afghan territory by Pakistan's military forces and said the incursion" represents a reiteration of violations as Kabul had previously expressed its concerns to the Security Council in February and August 2019.
Raz said in the letter that on July 15, Pakistan military forces began unprovoked artillery attacks against Afghan border posts and civilian residential areas in the Sarakano and Asad Abad districts of Kunar Province.
The attacks included 12 heavy artillery strikes targeting Asad Abad district and more than 160 artillery rounds fired at Sarakano district. In addition to four casualties among members of the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces, the attacks claimed the lives of six civilians, including two women, and eight injuries and resulted in significant damage to civilian property.
We would like to once again reiterate, as we have in previous communications, that the issue of violations of Afghan territory by Pakistani military forces has continued despite numerous appeals made to the Government of Pakistan, bilaterally and through other measures, to cease their illegal and provocative activities in our sovereign territory.
In that regard, the government of Afghanistan expresses, once again, its strong condemnation of Pakistan's failure to adhere to its obligations under the principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as international law and international humanitarian law, she said in the letter.
Raz said the Afghan Government is currently working to de-escalate the situation bilaterally, but should this fail, it will call on the Security Council to take measures and actions necessary to bring about an end to the violations identified above.
She also requested that the letter of complaint regarding Pakistan's continued activities be circulated as a document of the Security Council and kept on record for reference should attempts at de-escalating prove unfruitful.
(PTI)
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In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said India has accorded the "highest priority" to getting permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council (UNSC).
"Four out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have bilaterally expressed official affirmations of support for India's candidature to a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC," he said.
Muraleedharan, however, did not name the countries.
"In the joint statement issued on the occasion of the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to China in May 2015, it is stated that 'China attaches great importance to India's status in international affairs as a large developing country, and understands and supports India's aspiration to play a greater role in the UN including in the Security Council, he said.
At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly of the UN.
The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.
India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Japan are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UNSC which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The process of UNSC reforms is being presently discussed under the intergovernmental negotiation framework of the UN General Assembly.
Last week, the grouping of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) expressed "frustration" over the "slow" pace of progress on reform of the UN Security Council and said the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process to expand the key global body.
Replying to a separate question on the Chabahar port, Muraleedharan said it has handled over 53,000 tons of India's wheat bound for Afghanistan since the beginning of the current fiscal.
"The Indian company, India Ports Global Limited, has taken over port operations in December 2018 and has since handled 12 lakh tons of bulk cargo and about 8200 containers," he said.
"In the recent past, there has been a rise in transit cargo for Afghanistan through Chabahar. India's assistance of 75,000 tons of wheat to Afghanistan, of which eight consignments have already been shipped, is being supplied via Chabahar," he added.
The Chabahar port is located on the Indian Ocean in Iran's Sistan and Baluchistan province.
It is being jointly developed by India, Iran and Afghanistan and is considered a gateway to opportunities for trade by the three countries with central Asian nations.
On the Chabahar-Zahedan railway project, the minister said the two sides remain engaged on it.
"India and Iran continue to cooperate on developmental projects in Iran, including the Chabahar-Zahedan railway line," Muraleedharan said.
(PTI)
India will sit in the 15-nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member - the eighth time that the country has had a seat on the powerful horseshoe table.
On Friday, India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico will join non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam and the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US.
India will be UNSC President in August 2021 and will preside over the council again for a month in 2022.
The presidency of the council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States' names.
"As the largest democracy we will be promoting very fundamental values like democracy, human rights and development," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told PTI.
India's message will also be to ensure "how do we let diversity flourish in a united framework, which is in many ways the United Nations itself. This is something which India as a country, as what it stands for, will take to the council.
Tirumurti said India will "definitely" emphasise a greater need for cooperation in the council, which should not be a place where because of any paralysis of decision making, urgent requirements do not get properly focused.
"We would like to have a more cooperative structure in which we genuinely look out and find solutions and go beyond the rhetoric," the envoy said.
India will also underscore the importance of respect for rule of law and international law.
"The current multilateralism is not factoring in multipolarity. When you have a structure, which is able to accommodate the multipolarity in a multilateral framework, then automatically (there is) a more responsive, more rule-bound and more inclusive process," he said, adding that this will lead to reform in the multilateral system.
"Broadly these are some of the messages which we will carry in various degrees We will be a country which will reinforce multilateralism. That would be the biggest strength of India in many ways when it gets into the Security Council," he said.
Tirumurti has outlined counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, maritime security, reformed multilateralism, technology for the people, women and youth and developmental issues, especially in the context of peace-building, as India's priorities for the UNSC tenure.
"I feel India's presence in the Security Council is needed at this juncture when there are deep fissures between P-5 themselves and also between other countries. The UN is losing coherence and we hope to bring this back by focusing on issues of priority to all Member States," Tirumurti said.
India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st century.
On the long-delayed UNSC reforms, Tirumurti criticised the lack of progress and said that hardly anything has happened in the last decade.
"Not a single thing has moved. Is this the type of process we want or can we collectively come to a slightly better process which will yield results," he said.
He underlined that it was time for a "genuine process" wherein Member States work with a single text for negotiations.
Tirumurti also said that in the last few months, he has tried to define India's interests a "bit more sharply", including on the question of terrorism.
"We have said that let us pursue terrorism with a single-minded determination and not start giving excuses and justifications for these," the Indian envoy said.
India will also look at very specific issues which are on the agenda of the council, relating to countries, specific topics, he said.
"What will happen is that the trend of the last few months of trying to define our interests a bit more sharply will continue as we go into the UNSC," he said.
Tirumurti has emphasised that in the Security Council, India will be a strong voice for the developing world.
He cited the example of issues related to Africa, including peacekeeping mandates, and said that India has always maintained that Africa should have a say in decisions pertaining to it and not have other countries alone decide.
Similarly, "if Afghanistan wants a peace process, let Afghanistan have a say in it. We will be a country which will stand up for developing countries," he said.
Addressing the virtual high-level General Assembly session in September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that as a Security Council member, India will not hesitate to raise its voice against the enemies of humanity, including terrorism, and will always speak in support of peace, security and prosperity.
Modi had also asserted that reform in the responses, processes and in the very character of the United Nations was the "need of the hour as he questioned that for how long will India, the world's largest democracy and home to 1.3 billion people, be kept out of the decision-making structures of the UN.
India, the endorsed candidate from the Asia-Pacific States, won 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast in the elections in June for the five non-permanent seats of the Security Council.
(With PTI Inputs)
India's membership was celebrated on Monday at a flag ceremony when its banner went up outside the Council chamber after the first session of the year.
Speaking at the ceremony, India's Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti pledged that India would "not shy away from raising our voice against the common enemies of humanity like terrorism."
Watch:
PR @ambtstirumurti speaks at the flag installation ceremony for incoming #UNSC Members.
India has formally started its 8th tenure in the Security Council today. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @harshvshringla @DrSJaishankar pic.twitter.com/RoughFZe4y
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) January 4, 2021
"We will use our tenure to bring human-centric and inclusive solutions to matters of international peace and security. India will be a voice for the developing world," he said.
At the Council, where China has repeatedly tried in recent years to bring up the Kashmir issue and questioning India's integrity along with Pakistan, Tirumurti pointedly made a reference to the union territory and its unity with India.
"From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, we stand united as one, bound by our ethos of democracy, pluralism and commitment to fundamental rights," he said, while pointing out that the nation with one-sixth the world's population is the largest democracy.
Elected last June to its eighth two-year tenure on the Council with 184 of the 192 votes polled, India officially started on the Council on January 1, but today was the first session because of the holidays. The other newly-elected countries are, along with Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway.
Kazhakstan's Permanent Representative Magzhan Ilyassov, who presided over the flag ceremony, called the new members "sterling contributors" to the UN and said they are entering the Council at a crucial time for the world body.
The 15-member Council has ten non-permanent elected members and five permanent members, who have veto powers.
The year's first session of the Council was held virtually before the flag ceremony and was on planning the agenda for the month during which Tunisia will hold the rotating presidency.
"Peace-keeping, peace-building, maritime security, women and youth, especially in conflict situations, and technology with a human face, will receive our attention while on the Council," Tirumurti said.
"We look forward to our collective pursuit for an ideal where the World is One Family -- 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'," he said.
Today in Security Council.
PR @ambtstirumurti attended the flag installation ceremony for incoming UNSC members and delivered his remarks. pic.twitter.com/cwT3LHqiKY
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) January 4, 2021
In the context of the global disruption by the Covid-19 pandemic, he quoted Swami Vivekananda: "Each nation must give, in order to live. When you give life, you will have life; when you receive, you must pay for it by giving to all others."
While India serves on the Council as a non-permanent member, it will continue its quest for permanent seat in a reformed UN.
Tirumurti reiterated India's "strong commitment to reformed multilateralism" and to an "equitable international system".
(Arul Louis/IANS)