Unsc

US vetoes UN Security Council resolution demanding cease-fire in Gaza

The United States on Wednesday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the war in Gaza because it was not linked to an immediate release of hostages taken captive by Hamas militants in Israel in October 2023. The council voted overwhelmingly in favour of the resolution 14 of its 15 members voted yes including US allies Britain and France but it was doomed by the veto. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said the United States worked for weeks to avoid a veto of the resolution sponsored by the council's 10 elected members, and expressed regret that compromise language was not accepted. We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional cease-fire that failed to release the hostages, he said. Hamas would have seen it as a vindication of its cynical strategy to hope and pray the international community forgets about the fate of more than 100 hostages from more than 20 member states who have been held for 410 days. The ...

Unsatisfied with pace of progress on UNSC reform: Indian UN envoy

India is unsatisfied with the pace of progress on Security Council reform, the country's envoy at the UN said, noting that there are countries who prefer the status quo and those that oppose expansion in the permanent category at all costs as they feel their neighbours may have a chance to become a member. The Security Council structure, as it stands today, is a reflection of 1945. It does not reflect today's realities, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish said during a conversation here on Tuesday. Harish delivered the keynote address on Responding to Key Global Challenges: The India Way' at an event at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Harish gave an expansive overview of the India way on key global issues ranging from reformed multilateralism, terrorism, demography, India's digital revolution to the country's youth, climate change, democracy, healthcare and vaccines. The event was co-sponsored by the MPA

India calls for urgent UNSC reform, stresses need for representation

Harish pointed to three key factors hindering it: the ineffective intergovernmental negotiation process, the insistence on consensus by some countries, and lack of representation for the Global South

Iran calls for UNSC meeting amid Israel airstrikes, backed by China, Russia

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Tehran was not looking for war with Israel but will respond "appropriately" to Israel's strikes on Saturday on Iranian military sites

Russia believes India, Brazil should be represented in UNSC, says Lavrov

Russia's top diplomat has said that his country believes that India, Brazil and African countries should be represented in the UN Security Council on a permanent basis to ensure the representativeness of the global majority, state-owned TASS news agency reported on Sunday. "Countries such as India, Brazil, as well as representatives of Africa should have been on a permanent basis in the Security Council for a long time. This is necessary to ensure representativeness, representation of the global majority," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told aif.ru. in an interview, TASS reported. India has been at the forefront of years-long efforts calling for reform of the Security Council, including expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent categories, saying the 15-nation Council, founded in 1945, is not fit for purpose in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geo-political realities. Delhi has underscored that it deserves a permanent seat at the horse-shoe ...

Will engage with China on matters of global interest: UK foreign secretary

The Foreign Secretary set out that as fellow Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, it is a necessity that the UK and China increase bilateral engagement

UNSC voices 'strong concern' for peacekeepers after Israeli attacks

The UN Security Council expressed strong concern Monday as Israel has fired on and wounded UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting, reiterating its support for their role in supporting security in the region. It's the first statement by the UN's most powerful body since Israel's attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL began last week, drawing international condemnation. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General Antnio Guterres confirmed Monday that peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged the peacekeepers to move 5 kilometers (3 miles) north during its ground invasion in Lebanon. Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a UN-drawn boundary between the two countries. The sides have been clashing since the Iranian-backed militant group started firing rockets a year ago in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza. Hamas' deadly attacks

India trusted partner in Jamaica's development journey, says PM Modi

India has been a "trusted partner" in Jamaica's development journey and it is ready to share expertise in a range of areas, including digital public infrastructure, biofuel, innovation and health with the Caribbean nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. Modi made the remarks after holding wide-ranging talks with Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. In his media statement, Modi said he and Holness also discussed regional and global issues and agreed that all tensions and disputes should be resolved through talks and that both sides will continue to work towards ensuring global peace and security. India and Jamaica are unanimous that reform of all global institutions, including the UN Security Council, is necessary, he said, Modi said India has been a "trusted and committed" development partner in Jamaica's growth journey and it will remain so. "We are ready to share our experience with Jamaica in areas of digital public infrastructure, biofuel, innovation, health,

French President Macron voices support for permanent UNSC seat for India

The remarks by Macron came during his address at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

G4 nations stress comprehensive UNSC reform essential for UN's future

They gathered to evaluate the current state of the multilateral system and discuss potential reforms to UNSC

'Good beginning': India on Pact of Future's language on UNSC reforms

India said that a UN summit document for the first time containing a detailed paragraph on Security Council reform is a good beginning and New Delhi looks forward eventually to the beginning of text-based negotiations in a fixed time frame to reform the 15-nation body. World leaders on Sunday adopted by consensus the 'Pact of the Future', promising to reform the Security Council, recognising the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable. UN officials have described the language in the 'Pact of the Future' on the long-pending Security Council reforms as groundbreaking. I would only point you in the direction of the fact that for the first time, a UN summit document has a detailed paragraph on UN Security Council reform," said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in response to a question on how India sees this language on UNSC reform in the 'Pact of the Future'. So it may not have every single detail in every area

UNSC meets for emergency session, says 'Lebanon on brink of catastrophe'

The meeting came amid an uptick in cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces

US backs 2 permanent seats for African nations on the UN Security Council

The United States announced Thursday that it will support the addition of two new permanent seats for African countries on the powerful U.N. Security Council and a first-ever non-permanent seat for a small island developing nation. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, calling it a follow-up to U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement two years ago that the U.S. supports expanding the 15-member body. While Africa has three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, that doesn't allow African countries to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices, she said. That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent seats for Africa on the council, Thomas-Greenfield said. It's what our African partners seek, and it's what we believe is just. However, a senior U.S. administration official, who spoke on condition of ...

Nothing is negotiated until everything is negotiated: Kirby on Mideast war

"You call that optimistic. I call that accurate. That's how close we believe we are. That's where we have gotten to. The basic framework of the deal has been agreed to," Kirby said

Without reforms, UNSC 'ill-equipped' to address global challenges: G4

A reform of the UN Security Council that does not address the lack of representation, particularly in the permanent category, would only "exacerbate" the current imbalances in its composition and render it "ill-equipped" to address current global challenges, India has said on behalf of the G4 countries. Recent global geopolitical events have clearly shown that the UN Security Council is unable to deliver on its primary responsibilities to safeguard international peace and security when the world needs it the most, Charg d'Affaires and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the UN Ambassador R Ravindra said on Monday. He was delivering a statement on behalf of the G4 countries -- Brazil, Germany, Japan and India -- at the UNSC High-Level Debate on Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Addressing the Historical Injustice and enhancing Africa's effective representation in the UNSC'. The realities of 1945, when the Council was established, have long been superseded by ..

UN chief pushes for Security Council reforms, permanent seat for Africa

In a high-level debate on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, addressing Security Council said that the composition of the UNSC has failed to keep pace with a changing world

Russia holds UN meeting on global cooperation; US terms it 'hypocrisy'

Russia's foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West at gunpoint and impeding international cooperation, a claim the US ambassador to the United Nations denounced as hypocrisy by a country that invaded neighbouring Ukraine. The finger-pointing came at Russia 's showcase event during its presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and it chose the topic Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic and sustainable world order. Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside. Just before the meeting, Ukraine's UN Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, whose ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was among the several dozen UN envoys surrounding him. The joint statement said the international community must not be distracted from Russia's flagrant violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and from Moscow cynically attempting to present itself as

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

Only comprehensive reform can enable UNSC to manage global conflicts: India

India has asserted that as the United Nations turns 80 next year, it is "high time to reform the Security Council by expanding its permanent and non-permanent categories to enable it to manage today's global conflicts effectively. Delivering India's statement at the UN General Assembly debate on the Annual Report of the UN Security Council, Pratik Mathur, Minister in India's Permanent Mission to the UN, said that since performance assessment has become one of the focus areas at the United Nations as part of the discussions on global governance reforms, the Security Council, too, needs to prove its credibility and improve its performance. Speaking today in 2024, a year before the United Nations turns 80, it is thus high time to bring the Council in line with its Charter responsibilities to act on behalf of the entire membership, Mathur said on Tuesday. Mathur said this will not be achieved without enhancing the Council's membership in both permanent and non-permanent categories. Mat

US, allies clash with Tehran, Moscow over Iranian nuclear programme at UNSC

The United States and its key European allies clashed with Iran and Russia over Tehran's expanding nuclear programme, with the US vowing to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran in a UN Security Council meeting on Monday. The US, France, Britain and Germany accused Iran of escalating its nuclear activities far beyond limits it agreed to in a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and of failing to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran and Russia accused the US and its allies of continuing to apply economic sanctions that were supposed to be lifted under the deal, and insisted that Tehran's nuclear programme remains under constant oversight by the IAEA. The clashes came at a semi-annual meeting on implementation the nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Under the accord, Tehra