Category: United Nations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again raised the Kashmir issue saying that resolving it through dialogue by India and Pakistan will lead to regional stability.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for reforming the Security Council as one of the urgent measures required to prevent the “great fracture” threatening the polarised world.

If a request is made to formally change the name of 'India' to 'Bharat', the United Nations would consider it, a UN spokesperson said on Wednesday -- and, going by a recent precedent, it would probably take just a letter from External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has already visited the UN once this year, is not scheduled to be at the high-level General Assembly meeting of world leaders this month and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is to speak on behalf of India, according to the latest roster of speakers.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday that he will be going to the G20 summit in New Delhi carrying the messages of global financial reform and fighting climate change as he takes a swing through four international summits ahead of next month's high-level UN meetings.

"By aiming for the moon, India has not only reached it, but also set our sights on the limitless possibilities that lie ahead (and) as the saying goes, 'To infinity and beyond'," India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj has said.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urges the Pakistan government to "respect due process” in the case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and calls on all parties to avoid violence, his spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday.

"We face critical funding gaps amounting to $1.3 billion, with many programs already ended or considerably scaled back due to insufficient resources and aid pipelines at risk of imminent rupture, including for food assistance," OCHA said.

In the last two days, Russia launched a drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian port of Odesa, while a bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the occupied territory of Crimea was partially destroyed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend the high-level annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in September, according to the roster of speakers released by the office of the Assembly president.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj, who gave her the cheque last Friday, said in a statement that New Delhi "will continue to promote the use of the Hindi language in the United Nations".

Syria has unilaterally broken a Security Council stalemate by agreeing to allow the UN to use a contentious border-crossing to provide aid to rebel-held areas of the country on the terms of a Russian resolution that failed.

UN Security Council President Barbara Woodward has said that the pace of the Council reform process has been “very frustrating” and that her country backs moving on to text-based negotiations.

For the 25th time, the UN General Assembly has pushed the negotiations for the Security Council reforms to its next session and India has warned it go on for 75 more years without first reforming the negotiating process.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has removed India from the list of countries that need attention over the impact of armed conflicts on children following steps taken by the nation to mitigate the situation.

The UN General Assembly has called for the adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that was proposed by India and has been languishing for more than a quarter of a century.

For example, Indian-American yoga teacher Bikram Choudhury had sued an organisation that he claimed had violated his copyright on yoga practices. But the US federal courts threw out his case.

A mosaic of races and nationalities covered the green of the UN lawn speckled with yellow yoga mats. As one, they went through an array of simple yoga exercises focused on breathing and relaxation.

"When it comes to combatting terrorism, we must stand as one against this global threat," he said on Monday at the High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies that is at the core of week-long programmes.

There is great enthusiasm among diplomats from around the world and UN officials for the International Day of Yoga celebrations to be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, according to India's Permanent Representative to UN, Ruchira Kamboj.

UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi is looking forward to celebrating the 9th International Day of Yoga with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the world body's headquarters in New York on June 21 as the latter will begin his visit to the US.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj has offered Pakistan the "utmost sympathy" for what she described as its mindset of ignorance and inability to comprehend the culture of peace.

India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said on Wednesday that India was deeply concerned over "the growing increase in attacks on religious places, including churches, gurdwaras, monasteries, mosques, temples, synagogues and other religious sites".

The world organisation's members have unanimously backed India's efforts to honour with a monument the more than 4,300 Blue Helmets who made the supreme sacrifice in the cause of peace.

India has been concerned about what it has described as the exclusion of non-Abrahamic religions in formal statements and resolutions at the UN about bigotry and anti-religious violence.