India's G20 presidency will be 'watershed moment' in its history: Kamboj

India's presidency of the G20 will be a 'watershed moment' in its history as the country seeks to play an important role in finding pragmatic global solutions for the well-being of all, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj has said.

India on Thursday assumed the monthly rotating Presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council, as well as the year-long presidency of the G20.

Kamboj said on Thursday India sees both the presidencies - that of the Security Council for this month and the G20 for the next year, as a new responsibility".

"We will try our utmost to show that the hopes and expectations of the global community are met, said the President of the Security Council for December.

On India's G20 presidency, Kamboj said it is an honour for the country to lead a group that represents 85 per cent of the world's GDP and 75 per cent of global trade. Kamboj said that as noted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's presidency of the G20 comes at a time of crises and chaos in the world.

The world is going through the after-effects of a disruptive, once-in-a-century pandemic, conflicts and much economic uncertainty. At such a time, the world looks to G20 with much hope, she told reporters at the UN headquarters here on the programme of work for the month and India's priorities as it presides over the Council this month.

Kamboj stressed that India's presidency would be a watershed moment in her history as it seeks to play an important role in finding pragmatic global solutions for the well-being of all and in doing so, to manifest the true spirit of the world being one large family, very much a part of Indian ethos.

She added that as G20 President, India will set the agenda for the year, identify themes and focus areas, conduct discussions and deliver outcome documents. Kamboj said the G20 presidency will be ambitious, decisive and all-inclusive, underpinned by the thinking One Earth, One Family, One Future'.

In response to a question, Kamboj said the effort during the G20 presidency will be to keep the unity because India truly believes that the world is one large family". "And to this end, we bring people-centric solutions to the table and we will continue to do that during the course of the presidency, she said.

She said that there have been many successes in India in recent years and the country hopes to bring some of these successes, scale these up, bring them to the world and share its experiences, "underpinned by the philosophy that the world is one family.

The G20 summit will be in New Delhi in September next year and more than 100 pre-meetings will be held across the length and breadth of our country - from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Kamboj said.

In response to a question on protests in China over its COVID-19 policies and a Pentagon report on China expanding its nuclear arsenal, Kamboj said India does not comment on the internal and domestic matters of other countries."

"It is not for us to comment on that, she said.

She said that whether it is the pandemic or other crises, there will be challenges during India's presidency and tenure and it looks upon all of these challenges as opportunities.

We have walked the talk and put our money where our mouth is, Kamboj said.