Un Security Council

Nations should not take advantage of fissures in Syrian society: Singapore

Singapore's foreign ministry has said international powers should not take advantage of the fissures in Syrian society to pursue their own strategic objectives. "All parties must ensure the safety and well-being of Syrian civilians who have already suffered so much," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Singapore is closely monitoring developments in Syria. The complex situation in Syria can only be resolved definitively through an inclusive, Syrian-led political process as affirmed in the UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Any meaningful political solution must respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Syria, it said. Since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, more than 3,00,000 Syrians have been killed and more than 13 million have been displaced with many seeking refuge in other countries. "We hope they can return safely to their homes when peace is restored," the ministry said. Given the current volatile situation, Singaporean

UNSC 'united on Syria'; US, Russia emphasise territorial integrity

Russia has diplomatically shielded its ally Assad during the war, casting more than a dozen vetoes at the Security Council, on many occasions backed by China

Yemen risks being dragged into Mideast conflict that could spiral, says UN

Yemen risks being dragged further into the military escalation in the Middle East that keeps intensifying and could spiral out of control, the U.N. special envoy for the Arab world's poorest nation said Tuesday. Hans Grundberg told the U.N. Security Council that regrettably Yemen is part of the escalation and he warned that repeated attacks on international shipping by its Houthi rebels have significantly increased the risk of an environment disaster in the Red Sea. Both Grundberg and the U.N.'s acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya urged the Iranian-backed Houthis to halt their attacks on international shipping, which the rebel group began to support fellow Iranian-backed militant group Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack in Israel that sparked Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. The U.N. officials also demanded the release of dozens of U.N. personnel, staff of non-governmental organizations and diplomatic missions, and members of civil society, most detained since June. Msuya called the ...

UN chief criticises divided UNSC for failure of leadership to end wars

The United Nations chief sharply criticised the powerful but deeply divided Security Council at a high-level meeting on Wednesday for a failure of leadership to end wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond. Peace demands action. And peace demands leadership, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the 15-member council charged with ensuring international peace and security. Instead, we're seeing deepening geopolitical divisions and mistrust. He pointed to repeated violations of the UN Charter and international law, conflicts multiplying and becoming more deadly, and civilians paying the steepest price. The council has been blocked from any action on Ukraine because Russia is a veto-wielding member and a party to the conflict invading its neighbour in violation of the UN Charter, which requires all members to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all other nations. It has been stymied in taking tough action on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza because of Israel's close ally

India asks caution on UNSC actions not representative of current realities

Underlining the need to strengthen the existing mechanisms in UN peacekeeping operations, India has urged caution against actions rooted in authorisation from a Security Council that does not represent current realities and underscored the need to reform the powerful UN body. Delivering India's position on UN Policing during the 4th UN Chief of Police Summit held here last month, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Kumar Deka said that while creating the right political conditions and supporting development is conducive to creating conditions where conflict doesn't take root, we have to be wary of infringing upon the sovereignty of host nations and their various political stakeholders, especially given the current mistrust the world has in our multilateral systems. We have also been witnessing conversations on peace enforcement in the context of peace operations. While we need to strengthen existing mechanisms, we call for caution on any activity that is rooted in authorisation from a

Putin gives North Korea's Kim a luxury Russian-built limousine, says TASS

Photos released by Russian media showed Putin and Kim taking turns to take the wheel in the new Aurus around the guest house following the summit talks

India presents extensive model on behalf of G4 nations for UNSC reform

India has presented a detailed model on behalf of the G4 nations for Security Council reform that includes new permanent members elected democratically by the General Assembly and displays flexibility on the veto issue. Participating in the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council reform (IGN) on Thursday, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said the UN's 80th anniversary next year serves as a milestone to achieve concrete progress on the long-pending subject. Kamboj presented the G-4 model' on behalf of Brazil, Germany, Japan and India for debate, dialogue and finally negotiations. The proposals elicited strong support from wider UN members. The realities of 1945, when the Council was established, have long been superseded by the geo-political realities of the modern era and a new century; with the need for change being felt across the board, Kamboj said as she shared the exhaustive G4 model with UN Member States in the General ...

US preparing UNSC resolution to warn against nuclear weapons in space

The Security Council is already set to discuss nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation in a meeting on March 18

Global goals for Afghanistan aligns with India's priorities: Ambassador

India's envoy to the UN has said that the overall objective of the global community in Afghanistan aligns with New Delhi's priorities in the war-torn nation, including the need to combat terrorism. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, told the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday that New Delhi pays close attention to the situation in the country, which has a direct impact on us". "Our objective is to establish long-term peace, security and stability in Afghanistan, Kamboj said, as she told the top organ of the United Nations that India participated actively in the recent meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan held in Qatar. "The overall objective of the vast majority of the international community aligns with India's priorities with respect to Afghanistan," she said. "These include the need to counter terrorism, bring in inclusive governance, safeguard the rights and interests of women, children and minorities, counter-narcoti

US warns against Israeli assault on Rafah in draft UN Security Council text

The US has so far been reluctant to back cease-fire proposals in the four-month old conflict, though it has tried to broker a deal under which Hamas would release hostages from Gaza

Taliban has set 'unacceptable' terms for meeting, says UN secy general

The Taliban set unacceptable conditions for attending a UN-sponsored meeting about Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday. Taliban demands included the exclusion of Afghan civil society members from the talks in Doha, Qatar, and treatment that amounted to official recognition of the Taliban as the country's legitimate rulers, Guterres said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Qatar. The Taliban seized power in 2021, as US and NATO forces withdrew following two decades of war. No country recognises them as Afghanistan's government, and the UN has said that recognition is almost impossible while bans on female education and employment remain in place. The two-day meeting in Doha brought together member states and special envoys. But the Taliban didn't attend because their demands had not been met. I received a letter (from the Taliban) with a set of conditions to be present in this meeting that were not acceptable, Guterres told a news conference. These .

India will surely get UN Security Council seat but not easily: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Saturday that he was 100 per cent confident that India will get a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council but it won't be easy as there are a lot of countries who want to "block us". Jaishankar, who is here to attend the two-day Indian Ocean Conference, said he sees the change as to how differently the world looks at India now as he goes around the world. "We will get there. I am 100 per cent certain we will get there. But I will also tell you that honestly, we will not get it easily because the world is full of competition," he said in response to a question at an interaction with the Indian community here. "Some will try to block us, will make that passage difficult or put some kind of obstacles, some kind of argument in the way," he said, without naming any country. But I'm confident we will get there and I'm more confident today than I was five years ago or 10 years ago," the external affairs minister said. "As I go

UN to vote on resolution demanding halt to attacks on vessels in Red Sea

The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Wednesday on a resolution that would condemn and demand an immediate halt to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on merchant and commercial vessels in the Red Sea area. The U.S. draft resolution, obtained late Tuesday by The Associated Press, says at least two dozen Houthi attacks are impeding global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security. The Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen's internationally recognized government since 2014, have said they launched the attacks with the aim of ending Israel's devastating air-and-ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. It was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel which killed about 1,200 people and led to some 250 others being taken hostage. Israel's three-month assault in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 people, two-thirds of them women and children, according to th

US flies long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea, Japan

The United States flew a long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first interconnectional ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea's southern island of Jeju was meant to strengthen the countries' joint response against North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The exercise involved a B-1B bomber and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said. It said the B-1B's flyover is the 13th time that a US bomber has been temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year. A B-1B is capable of carrying a large conventional weapons payload. North Korean has previously called the bomber's deployment a proof of US hostility and had reacted with missile tests. North Korea on Monday launched a Hwasong-18 ICBM into the sea in a drill it said was meant as a warning over the US and

UN Security Council caught in concerning state of paralysis: UNGA chief

The UN Security Council is caught in a "concerning state of paralysis" and aims to serve the predominance of Global North countries, UNGA President Dennis Francis has said, underlining the need for representation and equitable participation of developing nations in decision-making in a reformed Council. Underlining that reform is our collective task and responsibility, Francis said that as the President of the 78th session of the General Assembly, he believes that we need a Council that is more balanced, representative, responsive, democratic and transparent. As conflicts seem to be spreading across the globe, the Security Council whose primary responsibility is to maintain international peace and security, however, seems caught in a concerning state of paralysis, Francis said. With its unsatisfactory discharge of its crucial mandate, the Council is perceived as falling short of its mandate, consequently, compromising the credibility of the entire UN itself, he said. Francis was ..

US vetoes UN Security Council demand for humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza

The United States vetoed a United Nations resolution Friday backed by almost all other Security Council members and many other nations demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. Supporters called it a terrible day and warned of more civilian deaths and destruction as the war goes into its third month. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood criticized the council after the vote for its failure to condemn Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, or to acknowledge Israel's right to defend itself. He declared that halting military action would allow Hamas to continue to rule Gaza and "only plant the seeds for the next war." "Hamas has no desire to see a durable peace, to see a two-state solution," Wood said before the vote. For that reason, while the United States strongly supports a durable peace, in which both Israelis and Palestinians can

Assets of those named by UNSC for terror funding to be frozen within 24 hrs

Financial sanctions against entities named by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for their links to terrorism and terror financing should be imposed "without delay" and within 24 hours under the UAPA and a law against use of weapons of mass destruction, the government has directed regulatory and probe agencies. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the federal agency tasked to detect money laundering and black money in the country's economic channels, has been made the nodal agency for identifying, notifying and initiating legal action against such entities under section 12A of The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005, also known as the WMD Act. India, as per official records, enacted the law as per its commitment to the country specific efforts under UNSC resolution 1718 (2006) and 2231 (2015), and their successor resolutions, as mandated under section 2 of United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1947. The ...

Women are agents of social change and social cohesion: India at UNSC

India also went on to mention that the under-representation of women in the peace process and political dialogue and called for overcoming the issue to ensure sustainable peace

Civilian casualties in Israel-Palestine conflict serious concern: India

India has voiced deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilian life in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, urging the parties to work towards creating conditions necessary for peace and restarting direct negotiations through de-escalation and ending violence. The remarks by India's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador R Ravindra, came on Tuesday at the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. India is deeply concerned at the deteriorating security situation and large-scale loss of civilian lives in the ongoing conflict. The mounting humanitarian crisis is equally alarming, Ravindra said. He said the escalation of hostilities in the region has only exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation and has once again underscored the fragile nature of the ceasefire. Civilian casualties in the ongoing conflict are a matter of serious and continuing concern. All parties must protect civilians, especially women

Will treat Pak's Kashmir reference at UNSC with contempt it deserves: India

India has said it will treat a reference by Pakistan to Kashmir during a Security Council meeting on the Israel-Gaza situation with the contempt it deserves and will not dignify it with a response. The remarks by India's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN, Ambassador R Ravindra, came on Tuesday after Pakistan's UN envoy Munir Akram made reference to Kashmir at the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. Before I end, there was a remark of habitual nature by one delegation referring to Union Territories that are integral and inalienable parts of my country, Ravindra said. I would treat these remarks with contempt they deserve and not dignify them with a response in the interest of time, Ravindra said. Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Security Council meeting that all acts of terrorism are unlawful and unjustifiable, whether they are carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terror outfit, or by Hamas, targeting people in ..