Published 08:56 IST, September 28th 2020
PM Modi's vision from UNGA address to set India's UNSC priorities: UN envoy TS Tirumurti
Indian Ambassador speaking exclusively to Republic said that the vision outlined by PM Modi in UNGA address has set out India's priority for the stint in UNSC
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday strongly pressed for reforms in the United Nations and asked how long India would be "kept out of the decision-making structures" of the global body. He also made a strong pitch for India's inclusion as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, which has not been possible due to China's resistance, whom he also scorned without mentioning.
Addressing the 75th United Nations General Assembly in Hindi through video-conferencing, the Prime Minister said that the international community is faced with a very important question about the relevance of the United Nations as the "requirements and challenges" of the present as well as the future are vastly different from those when the world body was constituted in 1945.
'Vision outlined by PM has set out India's priorities'
India's Permanent Representative at UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti speaking exclusively to Republic Media Network, said that the vision outlined by PM Modi in his address has set out India's priority and provided the context for the stint in the UNSC. "The vision outlined by Prime Minister in his address for our engagement with the United Nations in the Covid and post-Covid scenario, including his call for reformed multilateralism, has set out our priorities and provided the context for our stint in the UN Security Council," Ambassador TS Tirumurti said.
Asserting that as the world's largest democracy, India, will bring years of rich experience for the benefit of the whole world, PM Modi said while the faith and respect that the UN enjoys among the 1.3 billion people in India is "unparalleled", it is also true that the people of India have been waiting for a long time for the process for the reforms of the world body to get completed.
'How long would a country have to wait?'
"Today, people of India are concerned whether this reform-process will ever reach its logical conclusion," he said, adding that every Indian, today while seeing the contribution of India in the world organisation, aspires for India's expanded role in the United Nations.
"This is a country, which has hundreds of languages, hundreds of dialects, many sects, and many ideologies; This is a country, which was a leading global economy for centuries and also one which has endured hundreds of years of foreign rule. How long would a country have to wait particularly when the transformational changes happening in that country affect a large part of the world?" he asked.
India's new combative style has been evident over the past few weeks, especially to do with Pakistan's continued belligerence at the platform, which India appears to have no patience for anymore. PM Modi's intervention, akin to shaking the UN awake, also comes at a time when the US and China have lowered the discourse among superpowers at these platforms to hitherto unseen levels.
Updated 08:56 IST, September 28th 2020