U.N. reforms | This time something has shifted, we've got some tailwind behind us, says Jaishankar
The Hindu
Jaishankar added that it is not usual in a General Assembly for Presidents, Prime Ministers or Foreign Ministers of a country to refer to another country.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that there has been a "shift" on the issue of UN reforms among the international community.
"In respect of UN reform, every General Assembly (session) you revisit that issue, but this time something has shifted. You can see that, you can sense that," Mr. Jaishankar told reporters in New York on September 24, 2022 as he wrapped up the New York leg of his visit to the U.S. with his address to the UNGA high-level session.
Mr. Jaishankar said it is not that only he has sensed a shift on the issue of UN reforms. "I think everybody sensed a shift and it's something which others actually brought up with me".
He noted that this was articulated by U.S. President Joe Biden, who had said in his address to the General Debate earlier this week that the United States supports increasing the number of both permanent and non-permanent representatives of the Council, including permanent seats for those nations Washington has long supported and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Mr. Jaishankar added that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "explicitly" mentioned India from the General Assembly podium, a number of countries also referred to India in their statements. President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi also spoke fairly strongly and explicitly on the issue of UN reforms.
In his address to the General Assembly just an hour before Mr. Jaishankar's speech, Mr. Lavrov said that the U.N. and Security Council have to be aligned to contemporary realties.
He said Moscow sees the prospect of making the Security Council more democratic, exclusively, through broadening the representation of countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America. "We note India and Brazil in particular as key international actors and worthy candidates for permanent membership within the Council whilst at the same time unilaterally and mandatorily raising the profile of Africa," Lavrov said.
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