New Delhi: On Friday, marking the 80th anniversary of the United Nations, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s unwavering commitment to global peace, security, and multilateralism.
Addressing a memorial service in New Delhi, Jaishankar reiterated India’s long-standing commitment to global stability through its peacekeeping initiatives and called for celebration as well as introspection.
He said that India’s continued participation in UN operations proved its “basic commitment as a responsible member” to enhance and make the world a better place.
“I regard it as a reaffirmation of our shared commitment to the United Nations on this significant anniversary at a moment when the world is perhaps going through a bit of challenging situations,” the minister said.
Emphasising India’s unwavering commitment to peacekeeping, he further observed that the first-day commemorative cover reflected an important aspect of the commitment. “We see this as an intrinsic responsibility of a responsible member.
The efforts and resources that we have invested, and the sacrifices made by our people, certainly make the world a better place,” he added.
Jaishankar also launched a commemorative postage stamp called UN@80, which is aimed to be the signature hallmark of this milestone anniversary. The programme, organised under the Ministry of Communications by the Department of Posts, got more than 7.4 lakh entries from students all over India through the MyGov portal.
Praising the creative contribution, Jaishankar noted, “It must have been a very difficult task to choose the winning entry.”
He added that the symbolism of the stamp was strongly pertinent in the times when the world continued to see numerous conflicts bringing untold human misery and destabilising the global community. Even in the present day, we are sadly seeing several significant wars that not only impose a heavy loss of human life but also affect the welfare of the whole international community. The Global South has suffered especially as the more advanced have protected themselves from repercussions,” he added.
While talking of India’s role in peacekeeping, Jaishankar said that New Delhi had just conducted the Chiefs of Army Staff Conclave,
which had representatives of 30 troop-contributing countries attending it.
The meeting, he added, again reasserted India’s position in encouraging discussion on international peacekeeping. But he was no less forthright in his criticism of the
UN at present, cautioning that the organisation was finding it difficult to fulfil its founding principles. “We have to also acknowledge that all is not right with the United Nations,” he added. “Its decision-making does not reflect its membership or respond to world priorities. Its debates are more polarised and its work is visibly blocked. Any genuine reform is frustrated by using the process of reform itself. Financial limitations have now become an added worry.”