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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday called for reform in the United Nations, saying the global body has become "irrelevant" to the decision-making on major global issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Gulf. He said this in response to a question during an interactive session held at the 5th Kautilya Economic Conclave here. Jaishankar last month addressed the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. At the conclave, the external affairs minister (EAM) was asked what in his view is the future of the UN, and the future of multilateral institutions in the world. "Where the UN is concerned, I think it's obvious to everybody by now that the UN is gridlocked. If you look at the big issues of the day, whether you look at the conflict in the Gulf, whether you look at the conflict in Ukraine, whether you look at other issues in Africa, whether you look at Covid, actually, the United Nations has been largely irrelevant to the decision-making," Jaishankar
On January 1, the next United Nations secretary-general will take over an aging organisation still controlled by World War II powers. What will the world need from that person? Once a major player in solving conflicts and crises around the world, the 81-year-old institution has been sidelined from the top table in trying to end the wars in Iran, Ukraine and Gaza. And its precarious financial situation - caused mainly by the billions of dollars the United States owes - has forced major cuts to its humanitarian and development programs where it has remained a key player. The annual global gathering of world leaders at the United Nations that ended last week shed some light on what the next UN chief needs to focus on and pursue. In his farewell address to the General Assembly, outgoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told global leaders, "The world does not need a weaker United Nations." "It needs a UN strong enough to face the world as it is," he said, "and determined enough to bu
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that choosing between groupings such as BRICS and the United Nations is "a false choice", emphasising that smaller groups are supportive of the global organisation and would like to see it reformed. "I think it's a false choice. The UN is the UN. It may have many shortcomings. It also has many achievements, and obviously, when you want to reform it, when you want to change it, it's natural to focus on the shortcomings. But I don't think that should lead us to be dismissive of the UN," Jaishankar said. The minister was addressing a session titled 'Ruptures & Ramparts: Building Bridges for a Changing World' organised on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly by the Observer Research Foundation, Reliance Foundation, UN in India and the Permanent Mission of India to the UN here Thursday. Participating in the session, moderated by ORF President Samir Saran, were Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade ..
Frustrations are mounting among the international community over the lack of UN reforms, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, asserting that those opposing them are "using" the world organisation and "don't care" about it. Jaishankar said that while the issue of reforming the UN has been a regular theme every year as nations gather in New York for the annual General Assembly sessions, but "I feel it's getting stronger." "The frustrations are mounting because at the end of the day, if we are serious about reform, we need some text-based negotiation because you can't have a negotiation without a text. Then it's not a negotiation. Then it's just gaining time." He underlined that the "sentiment for reform, I do think, is deepened." Jaishankar addressed a Ministerial session titled 'Ruptures & Ramparts: Building Bridges for a Changing World' organised on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly by the Observer Research Foundation, Reliance Foundation, UN ..
The UK has test-fired a US torpedo from an undersea drone in a symbolic boost for maritime ties in time for Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first meeting with US President Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday. Downing Street said the Plymouth-made drone was used in the first such test firing of an anti-submarine weapon -- jointly developed by the US and Australia -- as part of the AUKUS programme. The heavyweight torpedo is designed to sink ships and deep-diving submarines launched from a 12-metre-long undersea UK-made drone named Excalibur. "The firing, which happened in UK waters last week, marks the first time either country had launched a torpedo from an undersea uncrewed vessel, rather than a crewed submarine. It marks a major advance in the future of submarine technology for the UK, US, and Australia, and delivers a significant breakthrough for Euro-Atlantic security and NATO's undersea advantage. "This will build on the next generation technology already being developed through
The United Nations announced the appointment Friday of US agriculture official Luke Lindberg to head the World Food Program, the UN food agency that calls itself "the world's frontline responder to hunger" in conflicts, crises and emergencies around the world. Lindberg, the son-in-law of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is now the US Department of Agriculture's undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. He will replace Cindy McCain as executive director of the Rome-based World Food Program. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu made the joint announcement after WFP's board confirmed it agreed with the appointment. Lindberg, 37, will take the helm of WFP as it struggles to raise money to help feed tens of millions of people in need. The agency, which relies on donations, says as many as 266 million people are facing acute hunger, but it is aiming to help just 110 million this year because of funding ..
The world is deeply divided and the UN's most powerful body is paralysed when it comes to ending conflicts. But there's a way forward. So says the United Nations' top official. On his way out of office at year's end after nearly a decade, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres - known for doom-and-gloom speeches about the state of the planet - said Thursday he finds hope and possibility in the coming years. But that, he says, is only if the world's governments can finally cooperate on curtailing conflict, upending inequality and grappling with the arriving juggernaut of artificial intelligence. "I believe in a number of fundamental things that need to be done, and need to happen for the world to be better - and I'm determined to fight to make those things happen," Guterres told The Associated Press in a sit-down interview four days before world leaders convene for their annual meeting at the UN General Assembly. His message to leaders and ministers from the UN's 193 member nations .
Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution Thursday that would have authorized UN experts to keep monitoring sanctions that were reimposed against Iran last year over its nuclear program. The UN Security Council sanctions are still in effect, which freeze Iran's assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran's ballistic missile program, among other measures. Using a provision in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the "snapback" mechanism, which reimposed the sanctions on September 27, 2025. It restored the Security Council sanctions committee and authorized a panel of UN experts to monitor implementation. The United States drafted a resolution to extend the UN expert panel's mandate for a year, coming as America also pursues a wider campaign to isolate Tehran from its remaining economic partners as the more than six-month-old war in Iran has hit a stalemate. The proposal was .
In a scathing attack on Pakistan, India has said the "architects" of the 9/11 attacks were not hiding in "caves or badlands," but had long evaded detection, asserting that the same "permissive environment" continues to support terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting, India's Permanent Representative Harish Parvathaneni invoked the history of the September 11, 2001 attacks. He said al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were eventually found in settled communities rather than remote hideouts. "The international community supported the global campaign to counter terrorism in the wake of 9/11. Let us not forget, however, that al-Qaeda's terror ecosystem established its strategic depth beyond Afghanistan through its affiliates," Parvathaneni said on Wednesday. Addressing the UNSC meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, Parvathaneni listed the names of al-Qaeda leaders who had planned and perpetrated the
The United Nations chief urged global competitors in artificial intelligence on Wednesday to cooperate in addressing threats from the technology, warning that "the world cannot afford a race to the bottom on AI safety." Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said concerns raised by those on the frontlines of AI technology that its development "is racing ahead of our understanding of the risks" can't be ignored. Governments must assume their first responsibility to protect civilians from AI threats, which means "national action is essential," Guterres told UN reporters. "But global coordination is also indispensable." "We need guardrails to build trust - and that make AI safe, transparent, accountable, with human dignity at the center." Guterres was referring to a proposal from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, to ensure AI safety by coordinating a slowdown in its development by leading technology companies and governments. OpenAI's Sam Altman, SpaceXAI's Elon Musk and other prominent ..