Washington: Aspiring for a permanent seat at the powerful UN Security Council, India has renewed its call for reforming and expanding the 15-membered highest decision making body of the United Nations, to make it more reflective of the 21st century realities. "Now that we have renovated the Chamber, it is time to renovate the institution," Union Minister for Human Resources Development Shashi Tharoor said during a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the renovated chamber of the Security Council at the UN headquarters in New York.
"India calls for reform because we believe in the UN... We believe it has done well enough to be worth reforming," Tharoor said, delivering a strong message at the ceremony to celebrate the reopening of the UN Security Council chamber, which had undergone extensive renovations at the expense of Norway, the country which had originally gifted the room to the world body in April 1952.
"This event is a reminder that institutions and places that looked fresh and relevant in 1952 need extensive repair work to bring them up to date for 2013. What was true of the fixtures, wallpaper and electronics of the Security Council is also true of its composition and working methods," he said.
"Just last week India lost 5 of its soldiers in South Sudan. The bodies of our brave peacekeepers have come home to much grief and mourning but not one voice has been raised in our political space to question why Indian lives are being
11:45 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi/Berlin: India and Germany will jointly intensify efforts to gain permanent membership in an expanded United Nations Security Council as also for broader reform of the world organisation, top ministers of the two sides say. "Security Council reform was naturally one of our focus areas of discussions. We have decided to continue to collaborate with Germany and intensify the pressures," Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told this IANS...
05:43 AM, Apr 15, 2013
New York: Members of the UN Security Council have condemned in the strongest terms the killing of five Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan and asked that the perpetrators be brought to justice. The members condemned the April 9 attack by unidentified armed persons on a UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) convoy in Jonglei, South Sudan, in which five Indian peacekeepers and at least seven civilians were killed, said a...
11:50 AM, Apr 10, 2013
Moving quickly after the UN Security Council passed an unanimous resolution against North Korea, the United States has slapped additional sanctions against the regime in Pyongyang, including three individuals involved in its proliferation programme. ...
12:04 PM, Mar 08, 2013
The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, and a furious Pyongyang threatened a nuclear strike against the United States. ...
02:50 AM, Mar 08, 2013
The UN Security Council, ignoring threats from North Korea, is set to impose a fourth round of even tougher sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council will vote on the draft sanctions resolution on Thursday morning. The resolution was drafted by and the United States and China, North Korea's...
01:40 PM, Mar 07, 2013
Almost two years after his death at the hands of US special forces in Pakistan, a UN Security Council committee has removed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from its sanctions list, although an order freezing any assets of the Islamist extremist remains in place. ...
05:22 AM, Feb 26, 2013
Syrians in "leadership positions" who may be responsible for war crimes have been identified, along with units accused of perpetrating them, United Nations investigators said on Monday. Both government forces and armed rebels are committing war crimes, including killings and torture, spreading terror among civilians in a nearly two-year-old conflict, they said. ...
06:45 PM, Feb 18, 2013
France, a key player in the P5 1 talks with Iran on its contentious nuclear programme, today asked India to "convince" its "close friend" Tehran to enter into serious negotiations and respect international obligations with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. ...
04:08 PM, Feb 15, 2013
The death toll in Syria is likely approaching 70,000 - up almost 10,000 from the start of the year, and civilians are paying the price for the UN Security Council's lack of action to end the conflict, the UN human rights chief said on February 12. Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, repeated her call for the 15-member council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court...
10:55 AM, Feb 13, 2013
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on North Korea's apparent nuclear test at 9 am EST (1400 GMT) on February 12, council diplomats said. One Western diplomat said he hoped the council would approve an initial statement condemning the nuclear test on February 12 and begin work on a more comprehensive council reaction. ...
11:58 AM, Feb 12, 2013
North Korea on Tuesday conducted a third nuclear test, a United Nations Security Council diplomat has confirmed. Reports say the communist country has likely exploded a 10 kiloton nuclear device. ...
10:25 AM, Feb 12, 2013
Recent satellite photos show North Korea could be almost ready to carry out its threat to conduct a nuclear test, a US research institute said on Friday. ...
06:39 AM, Jan 26, 2013
As India and Pakistan clashed in the Security Council over relevance of the UN observer group at the LoC, a spokesperson for UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the force can be terminated only by a decision of the 15-nation body. ...
12:29 PM, Jan 23, 2013
Even as the Line of Control remains tense, the war of words between India and Pakistan has intensified. India has raised Pakistan's continuing support to terror groups at the United Nations, seeking international action against state sponsors of terror. India named Pakistan terror groups Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa as major security threats to South East Asian countries. ...
11:15 AM, Jan 16, 2013
India highlighted terrorism as a security threat at the UN security council. India's representative to the UN Hardeep Puri said, "The international community cannot afford selective approaches in dealing with terrorist groups or in dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism. Resort to the use of terrorism as an instrument of State Policy is short-sighted. Those who have taken recourse to it have invariably themselves suffered immensely from it." ...
09:39 AM, Jan 16, 2013
United Nations: The end of 2012 will see India complete an eventful two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, leaving the high-table of the world body with confidence of returning "very" soon having established its credentials as a dominant global power. India joined the 15-nation Council in January, 2011, after a gap of 19 years, winning an overwhelmingly high number of votes, which its Permanent Representative...
03:45 PM, Dec 21, 2012
United Nations: The UN Security Council, under India's presidency, has imposed global sanctions against the dreaded Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network and the group's chief of suicide operations. The Council's Afghanistan/Taliban Sanctions Committee on Monday added the Haqqani group and Qari Zakir to its list of entities which face an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The move comes the same day that the US State Department designated Zakir as...
09:56 AM, Nov 06, 2012
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Krishna spoke about the steps underway to tackle piracy and bring our captive sailors back. "Piracy is a scrouge that needs to be fought with the cooperation of other countries. Families (of captive sailors) have been coming to meet me. I've been very moved. We are on the (UN) ...
09:49 AM, Oct 02, 2012
Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna will be addressing the United Nation General Assembly in New York on Monday. Several issues are going to be on his agenda, terrorism being the foremost. Other focus areas will include UN Security Council reforms, the piracy issue and the conflict in Syria. Krishna is also likely to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the session to discuss the ...
09:28 AM, Oct 01, 2012
