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United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres on Monday called for the immediate restoration of free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, stressing that uninterrupted maritime movement is critical for global trade and economic stability amid rising tensions in the Gulf region.In a statement, Guterres said, "Navigational rights & freedoms through the Strait of Hormuz must be respected. I appeal to the parties: Open the Strait. Let ships pass. No tolls. No discrimination. Let trade resume. Let the global economy breathe. Safe, unimpeded passage is an economic & humanitarian imperative."Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly criticised Iran's reported attempts to regulate or monetise vessel movement through the strategic waterway. In an interview with Fox News, Rubio warned that such measures would not be accepted by the United States and would amount to asserting control over an international passage."If what they mean by opening the Straits is 'Yes, ..
India has submitted its revised climate targets for 2031-2035 to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), committing to attain at least 47 per cent reduction in the emission intensity of its GDP (emission per unit of GDP) from the 2005 baseline by 2035. The development comes after the Cabinet in March approved the nationally determined contributions (NDC) -- the non-binding, voluntary climate action plans that every country is obligated to decide upon and implement under the 2015 Paris Agreement. In the document submitted to the UNFCCC on Friday, India also committed to "achieve about 60 pc cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2035 with the help of transfer of technology and low-cost international finance". It promised to "create a carbon sink of 3.5 to 4.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2035 as compared to the baseline year of 2005" as well. Note that this is India's third NDC,
India's economy is projected to grow at 6.4 per cent this year and 6.6 per cent in 2027, according to a report by the United Nations. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said in the report released Monday that economies in South and South-West Asia grew by 5.4% in 2025, compared to 5.2% in 2024, driven largely by strong growth in India. India's growth edged up to 7.4% in 2025, "supported by robust consumption, especially from the rural economy along with goods and services tax rate cuts, and export frontloading ahead of the United States' tariffs," the report, titled Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2026, said. It said in India, economic activities moderated in the second half of 2025 as exports to the United States declined by 25 per cent following the introduction of 50 per cent tariffs in August 2025. The services sector remained a key growth driver. The report projected India to register a 6.4 per cent growth rate
Issues related to United Nations peacekeeping were among the key topics discussed during a meeting between senior Indian and UN officials here, the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations said on Tuesday. The meeting was held between Sibi George, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations. Gorge and Khiari held a "productive discussion on various topics, with particular focus on UN peacekeeping", the mission said in a social media post. According to the UN India website, India is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. More than 275,000 Indian troops have served under the UN flag since 1948.
India on Saturday issued a stern condemnation following a deadly attack on French UN Peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).The official statement, released by the Ministry of External Affairs, underscored India's long-standing role as a leading contributor to global peacekeeping and its commitment to the safety of those serving under the Blue Helmet.In a press statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "We strongly condemn the attack that took place today on French UN Peacekeepers deployed in UNIFIL. We pay our homage to the fallen Blue Helmet and wish a speedy recovery to the three other peacekeepers who were injured."The UNIFIL, in a statement issued on its telegram channel, said that on Saturday morning, a UNIFIL patrol clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the village of Ghanduriyah to re-establish links with isolated UNIFIL positions came under small-arms fire from non-state actors."Tragically, one peacekeeper succumbed to his
India termed the targeting of commercial shipping during the West Asia conflict as deplorable, strongly urging that unimpeded freedom of navigation and global commerce through the Strait of Hormuz be restored at the earliest. "An aspect of particular concern for India for its energy and economic security relates to commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni said in the UN General Assembly on Thursday. "India has deplored the fact that commercial shipping was made a target of military attacks in this conflict," Parvathaneni said. India reiterated that the targeting of commercial shipping and endangering innocent civilian crew members, or otherwise impeding the freedom of navigation and commerce in the Strait of Hormuz, are unacceptable. Underscoring that international law in this regard must be fully respected, Parvathaneni said India strongly urges that safe and unimpeded freedom of navigation and glo
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that "very detailed" measures to verify Iran's nuclear activities must be included in a potential US-Iran agreement to end their war in the Middle East. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi stressed the need for the thorough verification regime for Iran's nuclear programme, as US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a second round of talks with Iran could happen over the next two days. The Trump administration has said that preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon is a key war aim. Iran has previously said it isn't developing such weapons but rejected limits on its nuclear programme. Last weekend in Pakistan, an initial round of talks between the two countries failed to produce an agreement. The White House said Iran's nuclear ambitions were a central sticking point. But an Iranian diplomatic official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door
India has asserted that any reform of the United Nations Security Council not accompanied by expansion in the permanent category with veto would perpetuate existing imbalance and inequities in the UN organ. Addressing the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) meeting on Security Council reforms on Tuesday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish also noted that consideration of a new category, with or without veto, would "complicate" an already existing discussion that involves wide-ranging views. "There are two fundamental aspects that result in an imbalanced structure and lack of legitimacy and non-representativeness of the UN Security Council these are the membership; and veto. "There is broad agreement on the dire need to reform the UN Security Council. It is evident that a structure designed more than 80 years ago does not meet the requirements of the current geo-political realities," Harish said. The Indian envoy recalled that the sole refor
The conflict and military escalation in West Asia threatens to push 2.5 million people in India into poverty and the country is projected to experience some loss in its human development progress, according to estimates and projections by the United Nations. The United Nations Development Programme, in a report titled 'Military Escalation In The Middle East: Human Development Impacts Across Asia And The Pacific' noted that the conflict is "widening human development pressures across Asia and the Pacific. Through higher fuel, freight, and input costs, the shock is diminishing household purchasing power, raising food insecurity, straining public budgets, and weakening livelihoods." The preliminary assessment, issued Tuesday, estimates that globally 8.8 million people are at risk of falling into poverty and the West Asia military escalation could cost Asia-Pacific up to USD 299 billion. In India, poverty is expected to rise from around 400,000 to 2.5 million, the report said. It adde
The gap between rich and poor nations is growing even wider as actions agreed to by many countries last year, including overhauling the major global financial institutions, remain unfulfilled promises, a UN report concluded. The report assessing the blueprint adopted in Seville, Spain, last June to narrow the gap and achieve UN development goals for 2030 was issued ahead of next week's spring meetings in Washington of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the main global financial institutions promoting economic growth. The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, said it had been prepared to upgrade global growth, but the Iran war has now darkened the outlook for the world economy. Li Junhua, the UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, said the geopolitical tensions were compounding the struggles of developing countries to attract financing. "This is an extremely perilous time for international cooperation, as geopolitical ...
More than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed across the globe in the past three years, nearly triple the death count in the previous three years, the UN said on Wednesday. "This is not an accidental escalation it is the collapse of protection," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council. Of the more than 1,010 humanitarian workers killed from 2023 to 2025, he said, over 560 were in Gaza and the West Bank, 130 in Sudan, 60 in South Sudan, 25 in Ukraine and 25 in Congo. That compares with 377 killed from 2020 to 2022. The surge in deaths occurred during the war between Israel and Hamas, which began in October 2023. A ceasefire has been in effect since October 2025, although shootings and airstrikes have persisted. Last year alone, Fletcher said, at least 326 aid workers were recorded as killed in 21 countries. In 2024, a record 383 were killed in global hotspots while distributing food, water, shelter and medicine. "They died in clearly marked convoys
India has been elected to various subsidiary bodies at the UN Economic and Social Council, one of the six main organs of the United Nations. The Permanent Mission of India to the UN said on Wednesday that India has been elected by acclamation to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) subsidiary bodies, including Commission on Science and Technology for Development (2027-2030); Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations (2027-2030); and the Committee for Programme and Coordination (2027-2029). Indian Ambassador Preeti Saran has been re-elected to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2027-2030). The UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) holds an annual intergovernmental forum for discussion on issues affecting science, technology and development. The Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations is a standing committee of the ECOSOC, and among its main tasks are consideration of applications for consultative status and reques
Russia and China on Tuesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had been repeatedly watered down in hopes those two countries would abstain. The vote - 11 in favour, two against and two abstentions - took place just hours before an 8 pm Eastern deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Iran to open the strategic waterway or face attacks on its power plants and bridges. One-fifth of the world's oil typically passes through the strait, and Iran's stranglehold during the war has sent energy prices soaring. It's doubtful the resolution, even if it had been adopted, would have impacted the war, now in its fifth week, because it was been significantly weakened to try to get Russia and China to abstain rather than veto it. The initial Bahrain proposal would have authorised countries to use "all necessary means" - UN wording that would include military action - to ensure transit through the Strait of Hormuz and deter attempts to close ...
Two women leaders are in the fray to become the next Secretary General of the UN, nominated along with two male candidates, amid a growing call for the first female to be elected as head of the global organisation in its 80-year-old history. The process to elect the next Secretary General of the United Nations gets underway this month with the four nominated candidates for the post participating in interactive dialogues scheduled to be held at the UN Headquarters on April 21 and 22. UN chief Antonio Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will complete his second five-year term as head of the global organisation in December 2026. He had assumed office in 2017 as the ninth Secretary General of the UN, an organisation that has never seen a female leader at its helm in 80 years of its existence. Vying for the top job at the UN are former Chilean President and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle ..
The UN Security Council is scheduled to vote Friday on a proposal to secure the Strait of Hormuz after it was significantly watered down in the face of opposition from China and Russia about allowing force to reopen the critical waterway that Iran has largely cut off to global shipping. The final draft of Bahrain's resolution, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, authorises the use of defensive - but not offensive - action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. One-fifth of the world's oil typically passes through the waterway where Iran's stranglehold during the war has sent energy prices soaring. Bahrain's initial draft resolution would have allowed countries "to use all necessary means" - UN language that would include possible military action - "in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman" to secure passage and deter attempts to interfere with navigation. Russia, China and France, all veto-wielding countries of the 15-member Security Council, had ...