India doubles down on UN reform

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday that the days of a few nations setting the agenda and expecting others to follow are over.

Jaishankar advocated for Security Council reforms, suggesting that chances be taken on modern lines in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

“In our deliberations, we often advocate for the promotion of a rules-based order. From time to time, respect for the UN Charter is also invoked. But for all the talk, a few nations continue to shape the agenda and seek to define the norms. This cannot go on indefinitely. Nor will it go unchallenged,” he said, adding that a fair, equitable, and democratic order will surely emerge, once they all put their minds to it.

“And for a start, that means ensuring that rule makers do not subjugate rule takers. After all, rules will work only when they apply equally to all,” he stressed.

Amid a diplomatic spat between India and Canada over the murder of a Sikh community leader, the minister said political expediency should not be used to determine how to respond to terrorism, extremism, and violence.

“Respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs cannot be exercised in cherry-picking,” he added.

“We must never again allow an injustice like vaccine apartheid to reoccur. Climate action too cannot continue to witness an evasion of historical responsibilities. The power of markets should not be utilized to steer food and energy from the needy to the wealthy,” he emphasized.

“At a time when East-West polarization is so sharp and North-South divide so deep, the New Delhi (G-20) summit also affirms that diplomacy and dialogue are the only effective solutions. The international order is diverse, and we must cater for divergences if not differences,” he said.

Jaishankar, who has been leading the Indian delegation to the UN, said the outcomes of the New Delhi G-20 summit "will surely resonate for years ahead."