United Nations

A million women lose access to critical support in crisis-hit regions, according to the UN Women

Minister of State for External Affairs and Environment, Forest & Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh on Tuesday called for responsible, secure and inclusive global governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) while addressing the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva.Addressing the gathering, Singh said, "India firmly believes that responsible AI governance must rest on strong foundational principles: preserving human oversight, upholding human rights, and preventing its misuse."He said these principles, reflected in the recent India AI Impact Summit, are essential to ensuring that AI systems operate across borders in an ethical, secure and beneficial manner.Highlighting India's approach to AI, Singh said, "Our National Strategy for AI and National AI Governance Guidelines embody the philosophy of 'AI for All'--inclusive growth for everyone without stifling innovation."He, however, stressed that developing countries need greater support to participate ...

India will chair the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy, to be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva this week, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Sunday. The session is organised by the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and will bring together member states, international organisations, consumer protection authorities, academics, and other stakeholders to discuss emerging issues in the field, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in a statement. The Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE), set up under the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, is the principal intergovernmental platform for dialogue and cooperation on consumer protection law and policy, according to the ministry. Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, will preside over the three days of deliberations from July 6 to 8 and steer discussions among member states on key global ...

UN's scientific assessment says AI capabilities are advancing faster than governments can regulate them, urging stronger global cooperation, independent oversight, and standardised evaluations

Asserting that a "terrorist is a terrorist", India has called on the international community to work collectively to root out the "murderous ideology" without finding any grievance to justify terrorism. "India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for decades. Our people have paid the price of terrorism in lives lost, families scarred, and societies shattered. This experience has shaped India's approach: there can be no justification for terrorism." "Irrespective of any grievance, political cause or strategic calculation, terrorism in all its forms and manifestations must be condemned unequivocally," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni has said. Assessing the UN General Assembly on the adoption of the Ninth Review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (GCTS), on Wednesday, Parvathaneni said the international community must reject double standards in counter-terrorism. He emphasised that there is an obligation to hold ...

A UN expert panel warned AI is advancing faster than science and regulation, saying there is no guarantee increasingly capable systems will not cause catastrophic harm

The UN trade agency said vulnerable economies could continue to face elevated food, fuel and transport costs even after energy markets stabilise following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz

India has said that attempts by countries to question the FATF's credibility reflect their "fear of scrutiny" and asked these nations to stop exporting instability and prevent their territory from being misused for terrorism, in a veiled reference to Pakistan. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, made these remarks on Monday while addressing a 2026 Counter-Terrorism Week side event titled 'Joining Forces to Counter Terrorism Financing in the Context of Evolving Threats and Emerging Technologies'. "The FATF remains an indispensable pillar of the global counterterrorism financing and anti-money laundering architecture. Its work is technical, evidence-based and rooted in internationally accepted standards. Attempts to question its credibility often reflect fear of scrutiny rather than genuine process-related concerns," Harish said. The event was co-organised by the Permanent Missions of India and France to the United Nations, the Counter-Terrorism Committee

A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the UN. The head of the International Maritime Organisation said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran's permission. The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the UN agency's secretary-general. A US official told The Associated Press that the vessel was hit by an Iranian drone. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation, said the merchant vessel Ever Lovely was attacked by

The head of the UN's nuclear agency on Wednesday signalled that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim deal between the United States and Iran to reach an end to the war. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Mariano Grossi made the comments in Tokyo. "Whether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it's important, but not essential," Grossi told journalists. "This is going to happen." On Tuesday, Iran and the US disputed whether or not bombed enrichment sites would be inspected. That's key for the deal, which calls for Iran's stockpile of uranium to be "downblended" from highly enriched levels.

Organisation highlights bias, digital violence and lack of representation ahead of two global conferences

India has slammed Pakistan at the United Nations, calling it a "Frankenstein state" that gets shocked when its "own monster bites back", as it accused Islamabad of "hosting, training and deploying" terrorists. The remarks were made by Anupama Singh, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, on Wednesday, after Pakistan and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir during the Interactive Dialogue on the UN High Commissioner's annual report. "India is compelled to exercise this right of reply in response to references made to it by Pakistan and the OIC. We categorically reject the baseless and malicious allegations made by Pakistan," Singh said. The diplomat further said: "We also categorically reject the references to Jammu and Kashmir made by the OIC... For the record, Jammu and Kashmir was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. The only unresolved issue is Pakistan's illegal occupati

Commemorating the International Day of Yoga, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said that from its deep roots in ancient India, yoga has become truly universal, helping millions of all faiths. The Permanent Mission of India to the UN marked the 12th International Day of Yoga at the world body's headquarters on Thursday on the theme of 'Yoga for Healthy Ageing'. Vibrant yoga mats were neatly arranged at the North Lawns of the UN headquarters in the vicinity of the iconic Gandhi statue, as yoga practitioners, diplomats, UN officials, members of the diplomatic corps and the Indian-American community participated in the Yoga Day celebrations. On the stage, a special banner announcing India's candidature as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2028-29 term was also displayed with the message '#India4UNSC 2028-29 Peace, Planet, Progress.' In his message to mark the International Day of Yoga, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that "we come together to celebrate an ..

India has cautioned that reform of the UN Security Council will border on "failure" if only its non-permanent category of membership is expanded. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni made these remarks on Monday while addressing the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) meeting on Security Council reforms. "UNSC reform would be grossly inadequate, bordering on failure, if expansion is limited only to the non-permanent category as it would fundamentally not change the decision making power-structure of the P5," Parvathaneni said. "Groups and member states have waited this long for real and meaningful reforms," he further added. Parvathaneni was addressing the meeting, with focus on the 'Elements Paper', a document that contains points of convergences and divergences of UN member states on reform of the powerful UN body. Parvathaneni stressed that by advocating expansion of the permanent category, India's consistent effort has been to bring in a

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday calling on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to swiftly reverse their crackdown on women and to combat militant groups inside Afghanistan that Pakistan accuses of carrying out cross-border attacks. China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong, whose country sponsored the resolution, said the hope is that the Afghan government will "take more proactive measures to protect human rights, especially the rights of women, and project an image of openness, inclusivity and responsibility". The resolution extends the UN political mission in Afghanistan until June 17, 2027, and authorises it to support humanitarian aid deliveries "without discrimination" and to promote national and local governance "without any discrimination based on sex, religion or ethnicity, with the full, equal, meaningful and safe participation of women,... minorities, youth and persons with disabilities". The resolution's adoption follows the arrest of at least 30 women in th

AI is transforming the world—but at what cost? By 2030, data centres could consume more electricity than many countries and use enough water to meet the annual needs of 1.3 billion people.

World Environment Day 2026 calls for a new environmentalism that links sustainable growth with inclusion, climate resilience and stronger governance

The UN food agency said millions of people are being pushed into acute hunger by the Iran war, as it warned would happen if the conflict escalated and oil prices remained high. The World Food Program said an analysis in three vulnerable countries found that an additional 2.5 million people in Somalia, 2.3 million in Afghanistan and 1.3 million in Sri Lanka are struggling to meet their basic food needs. In March, WFP predicted that 45 million people could be pushed into food insecurity by the end of June. That would be on top of the 318 million people around the world who are already food insecure. "We remain by that prognosis," WFP's acting Executive Director Carl Skau told UN reporters. "That's mainly because the correlation between the prices of energy and food is so tight in many places, and also that in the poorest countries people are already spending all their money on food, and hence when food prices rise, they eat less." WFP said in its report, circulated late Thursday, tha

The UN nuclear watchdog has been unable to inspect nuclear facilities in Iran affected by the war last June according to a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog circulated to member states. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it "cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran or whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities." The IAEA warned that it was "unable to discharge its safeguards responsibilities" that it has under the Safeguards Agreement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, adding that it is "indispensable and urgent" for Tehran to implement its obligations under that Treaty. The only nuclear facility inspected in Iran by IAEA inspectors since the last report in February has been the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which was visited on June 1-3. The reactor currently running at Bushehr uses uranium from Russia enriched to 4.5 per cent, a low level needed

A UN report warned that global data centres could consume 945 TWh of electricity by 2030, nearly triple the combined annual electricity use of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria