'Damaged credibility': Modi's UN speech asks WHO, World Bank to shape up

Prime Minister faults world institutes for their work in tracing the origin of the Covid-19 and the suspension of an economic report reportedly manipulated under Chinese pressure

World institutions have "damaged their credibility" and must work to stay relevant, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations on Saturday, referring to their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and an international economic report.

"If the United Nations wants to remain relevant. It will need to improve its effectiveness and enhance its reliability," he said at the General Assembly in New York.

Modi was referring to the criticism of World Health Organization, a UN agency, and the World Bank, an independent institution. WHO has been criticised for its messaging about the Covid-19 outbreak in China in December 2019. The World