External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday highlighted problems affecting the working of the United Nations, including decision-making that doesn’t address global priorities, its response to the challenge of terrorism, and changes being blocked though the use of the reform process itself.
Jaishankar, who was addressing an event to launch a postal stamp marking the 80th anniversary of the UN, said India remains committed to the world body’s ideals of peace and security, international cooperation, multipolarity and UN peacekeeping operations.
While lauding the work done by the UN over the decades, he said: “That said, we must also recognise that all is not well with the United Nations. Its decision-making neither reflects its membership nor addresses global priorities. Its debates have become increasingly polarised and its working visibly gridlocked.
“Any meaningful reform is obstructed using the reform process itself. Now, financial constraints have emerged as an additional concern. How to sustain the UN even while seeking its re-invention is clearly a major challenge before all of us.”
Jaishankar listed the UN’s response to terrorism among the body’s shortcomings. “When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation that claims responsibility for the barbaric terror attack such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism?” he said in an apparent reference to China and Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
{{/usCountry}}Jaishankar listed the UN’s response to terrorism among the body’s shortcomings. “When a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation that claims responsibility for the barbaric terror attack such as at Pahalgam, what does it do to the credibility of multilateralism?” he said in an apparent reference to China and Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
{{/usCountry}}“Similarly, if victims and perpetrators of terrorism are equated in the name of global strategy, how much more cynical can the world get. When self-proclaimed terrorists are shielded from the sanctioning process, what does it say for the sincerity of those involved?” he added.
The world, Jaishankar said, is witnessing multiple major conflicts that have taken a great toll on human lives and impacted the well-being of the global community. “The Global South, in particular, has felt this pain even as the more developed insulated themselves from consequences,” he said.
On the occasion of UN Day, Jaishankar emphasised India’s commitment to its ideals of peace, security, development and progress. “India has always been and will continue to be a strong votary of the UN, and indeed, of multilateralism,” he said.
India’s commitment to global peace and security is reflected in the country’s support for UN peacekeeping operations, which remain a fundamental obligation for member states. The energies and resources devoted by India and sacrifices by Indian peacekeepers have made the world a better place, he said.
Jaishankar cautioned that if the maintenance of international peace and security becomes “lip service”, the predicament for development and socio-economic progress is more serious. The slowing down of the sustainable development goals (SDG) agenda 2030 is a “significant metric to measure the distress of the Global South”, he said.
However, Jaishankar said that the world community “cannot abandon hope” and that the commitment to multilateralism must remain strong even in difficult circumstances. “However flawed, the UN must be supported in this time of crisis. Our faith in international cooperation must be reiterated and indeed renewed,” he said.
The department of posts under the communications ministry organised an open competition to design the commemorative postage stamp celebrating the 80th anniversary of the UN. More than 740,000 entries were received from students of classes 9 to 12 and from arts colleges across the country. The winning entry depicts the need for peace in an era of conflict.