Category: United Nations

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.

"The evolving US proposal, which is expected to include the addition of up to six permanent seats to the Council without granting those nations veto power," The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The meeting of top security officials of India, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and the US is a partnership to "buttress the multilateral system" and "do good in the region," according to Security Council President Lana Nusseibeh.

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution to renew for a year, till May 31, 2024, arms embargo measures against South Sudan as well as targeted sanctions of travel ban and asset freeze against individuals and entities.

Border Security Force Head Constables Shishupal Singh and Samwala Ram Vishnoi were killed in July 2022 while with the peacekeeping operation known by its French initials as MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The UN said on Tuesday that "with many positives", India's economic growth this year is expected to hold at 5.8 per cent, affirming a series of international organisations' projections that the country will be the fastest-growing major economy.

A UN Security Council (UNSC) that denies permanent membership to the world's largest democracy cannot be considered inclusive and the first step to "future-proof" the world organisation would be to reform the Security Council, according to India.

Pressing its case for reforming the UN Security Council, India has said that either the veto rights should be abolished or be given also to new permanent members in a reformed Council.

Perpetuating a UN Security Council built on an "anachronistic mindset" will also mean the continuing loss of faith in the world organisation, India has said as resounding calls from all sides for reform echoed in its chamber.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has plunged into a round of diplomacy to help resolve the Sudan crisis and protect Indians there, meeting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and consulting several foreign ministers as international efforts ramped up on the eve of Eid.

The continued trajectory for India is that while the young population entering the reproductive phase will boost overall fertility, "given the fertility pattern already evident, we can start to anticipate the decline, the plateauing and decline", she said on Wednesday.

The UN has protested to the US against the spying on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other officials calling it an "interference" by Washington, according to spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

The US spying on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is no surprise to him but he is concerned about distorting private conversations and making them public, according to his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

"We are facing a serious challenge of cross-border supply of illicit weapons using drones, which cannot be possible without active support from the authorities in control of those territories," India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj told the Security Council on Monday.

In a sign of India's diplomatic influence, it has been elected to the UN Statistical Commission and two other bodies while China suffered a diplomatic rout unable to get the required votes for the Commission when it squared off against India.

India has called for clearer documents for the UN Security Council reform, in particular naming names of those opposed to permanent membership for African nations, exposing their stance against the historically wronged continent.