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India showcases grain power to start new role
T S Tirumurti, the Indian permanent representative (PR) to the UN was expected to organise on Monday a traditional breakfast that PRs of incoming presidencies host for counterparts from the rest of the 15 member nations.
India has begun its presidency of the UN Security Council with a generous dose of Indian grain power.
T S Tirumurti, the Indian permanent representative (PR) to the UN was expected to organise on Monday a traditional breakfast that PRs of incoming presidencies host for counterparts from the rest of the 15 member nations.
The menu comprises the usual fare for such breakfasts - crepes, some breads, juices, coffee and fruits. But some of Tirumurti’s guests would probably have had something already, something really Indian before heading out - oat clusters with multigrain flakes and Alphonso mango bits or crunchy millet granola bar or buttermilk millet crackers with caramelised onions, or just some Cajun trail mix in a gift hamper.
“We did it to highlight the initiative taken by the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] to declare the year 2023 the International Year of Millets, which we had successfully spearheaded in the UN General Assembly a few months ago,” said Tirumurti, who spent months on the breakfast hamper, albeit with help from his wife Gowri Tirumurti and mission colleagues.
The incoming presidency’s breakfast is a UN Security Council tradition. And Tirumurti was to host it at the Permanent Indian Mission, the Charles Correa-designed aesthetic wonder amid steel-and-glass Manhattan buildings.
It will then be followed by India holding the first formal business of the day in the chair - a closed door UN Security Council consultation, which will be followed by a presidential statement that Tirumurti will deliver on Darfur.
Later in the day, he will brief the rest of the UN general assembly members.
