India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador T S Tirumurti, stated, “It is a special honour for us to be presiding over the Security Council in the same month as we celebrate our 75th Independence Day.” India takes over the UNSC presidency from France for this month. This time, It will focuses on its core interest, including maritime security & counter-terrorism.
“Several crucial discussions on Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and the Middle East will be on the Security Council’s agenda. Important resolutions on Somalia, Mali, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon will also be adopted by the council,” he added.
India took the presidency over the united nation security council on Sunday, intending to focus on three major areas like counter-terrorism, keeping peace and maritime security.
Aside from the five permanent members, the UNSC has ten non-permanent members, each appointed for a two-year term. India was chosen as a non-permanent member seven times before beginning its eighth term on January 1. The United Nations General Assembly must elect the ten non-permanent members. According to UN rules, the General Assembly “elects five non-permanent members each year,” who must receive a two-thirds majority to be elected.
Meanwhile, sources claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would preside over a United Nations Security Council meeting, making him the first Indian prime minister. In a tweet, Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former permanent representative to the UN, claimed “a first in the making” as “an Indian Prime Minister may maybe preside, although electronically, a Council meeting for the first time; on August 9 2021.”
On the UN’s counter-terrorism agenda, India’s top ambassador remarked that “India has continuously placed a strong emphasis on countering terrorism, both within the council and outside of it. We have not only reinforced our efforts to combat terrorism, particularly in the area of terrorism finance, but we have also prevented attempts to lessen the focus on terrorism.”
