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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
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 ..
India has co-sponsored a resolution in the UN General Assembly proclaiming November 27 every year as the International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage. The 193-member UN General Assembly on Friday adopted by consensus the resolution titled 'International Day for the Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriage' led by Sierra Leone. India was among the nations that joined as co-sponsors of the resolution. It was on November 27, 2024 that the 'Bal Vivah Mukt Bharat', also known as Child Marriage Free India, campaign was launched in the country, aiming to reduce the prevalence of child marriage by 10 per cent by 2026 and make India child marriage free by 2030. The issue was also championed by Sierra Leone's First Lady and President of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) Fatima Maada Bio and Just Rights for Children Founder Bhuwan Ribhu, who had initiated the international call for a dedicated global day to end child ...
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 ...
India abstained from voting on a UN General Assembly resolution calling on countries to comply with their obligations on climate change, voicing concern that the draft "undermines" the "sacrosanct architecture" of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The resolution was adopted in the 193-member General Assembly on Wednesday with 141 votes in favour, eight against and 28 abstentions, including by India. India said it had engaged constructively during negotiations on the resolution and clarified its concerns and positions at every stage. "We are therefore disappointed that our concerns were not addressed, despite our best efforts to find common ground," it said. In the Explanation of Vote, First Secretary in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, Petal Gahlot, said adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly does not create binding commitments for India. "Our obligations arise only from outcomes adopted under the UNFCCC process. Hence, in line with our sta
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
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 ..
India has paid USD 35.18 million to the UN Regular Budget for 2026, joining the "honour roll" of 47 Member States who have paid their regular budget dues in full to the world body on time. The UN Committee on Contributions said that as of February 3, 2026, 47 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full, within the 30 day due period specified in UN financial regulations. India contributed USD 35.18 million to the 2026 United Nations Regular Budget and made the payment on February 3. Listing the countries making it to the "honour roll" of Member States who have paid their regular budget assessments in full, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asked a quiz-style question at the daily briefing about India. "This country is the home of The Statue of Unity, the world's tallest statue, with a height of 182 metres. [...] Yes, very good, India," Dujarric said, referring to the statue of Indian political leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
India called out Pakistan for misusing UN platforms to drive its divisive agenda after Islamabad's envoy raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in the General Assembly. Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Eldos Mathew Punnoose on Thursday said that the right to self-determination must not be abused to encourage secession in pluralistic and democratic states. At a time when member states have to rise beyond their narrow considerations, Pakistan continues to misuse all platforms and processes in the UN to drive their divisive agenda, Punnoose said. "This forum is no exception either and Pakistan made an unwarranted reference to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, an integral and inalienable part of India, Punnoose said, while delivering the national statement at the UN General Assembly Plenary on 'Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organisation'. The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle enshrined in the UN Charter. However, th
Watched by the world, President Donald Trump returns to the United Nations on Tuesday to deliver a wide-ranging address on his second-term foreign policy achievements and lament that globalist institutions have significantly decayed the world order, according to the White House. World leaders will be listening closely to his remarks at the UN General Assembly as Trump has already moved quickly to diminish US support for the world body in his first eight months in office. Even in his first term, he was no fan of the flavour of multilateralism that the United Nations espouses. After his latest inauguration, he issued a first-day executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organisation. That was followed by his move to end US participation in the UN Human Rights Council, and ordering up a review of US membership in hundreds of intergovernmental organisations aimed at determining whether they align with the priorities of his America First agenda. There are great hopes for i
World leaders begin convening Monday at one of the most volatile moments in the United Nations' 80-year history, and the challenges they face are as dire as ever if not more so: unyielding wars in Gaza and Ukraine, escalating changes in the US approach to the world, hungry people everywhere and technologies that are advancing faster than the understanding of how to manage them. The United Nations itself, which emerged from World War II's rubble on the premise that nations would work together to tackle political, social and financial issues, is in crisis itself. As Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week: "International cooperation is straining under pressures unseen in our lifetimes. Yet the annual high-level gathering at the UN General Assembly will bring presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from about 150 of the 193 UN member nations to UN headquarters. The secretary-general says it is an opportunity that can't be missed even in the most challenging of moments. We