India supports multilateralism, need to adopt speedier UNSC reforms: Envoy

India supports multilateralism in the United Nations Security Council and it is high time that the status quo should be changed and the reforms are introduced at the earliest, TS Tirumurti said

India supports multilateralism in the United Nations Security Council and it is high time that the status quo should be changed and the reforms are introduced at the earliest, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said on Friday (local time).

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Tirumurti said that the architecture of UNSC "remains frozen" in time and both the COVID-19 crisis and the 75th anniversary of the UN presents an opportunity to do things differently and that the challenges provided by the pandemic to bring in genuine reform and new changes.

"The architecture of UNSC remains frozen in time. Lack of progress for more than a decade on issues of its reform has been frustrating for a vast number of countries. Reforms are being held hostage by those who would prefer this status quo and that is why we are calling for strengthening multilateralism by shaking up the status quo and undertaking reform," Tirumurti said.

"We believe that time has already come to move towards a transparent and result-oriented process with provision for substantive negotiations based on one single comprehensive text in a formal setting," he added.

Speaking about India's last term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, the diplomat said, "Last time, we were in the Council in 2011-12. We have set forth our priorities for the UN which include peace and security-related issues like peacekeeping, maritime security, combating terrorism, reforms, among others."

In June, India was elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term.

Stressing on multilateralism, Tirumurti said, "As a staunch supporter of multilateralism, India has been supportive of new ways of functioning and ensuring that work goes on in the UN. Member states and the UN Secretariat have ensured that critical work of the UN does not suffer because of the pandemic."

He said the world of today is not the same as 75 years back.

"There are increasingly complex and interconnected international challenges. There are fissures, divisions among countries, which does not necessarily mean that multilateralism is under threat. It means that some countries feel that the status quo of multilateralism including the UN is not delivering the necessary results. So, the debate is not necessarily about unilateralism vs multilateralism," Tirumurti added.

He quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he articulated the need for a reformed multilateralism.