New Delhi, Jan 1 (UNI) India returned to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member, wishing to be an agent of hope and change in the post-Covid world.
This is the eighth time that India will take a seat in the 15-member Council as an elected member.
The last time the country served a two-year stint at the global high table was in 2011-12.
The Narendra Modi government has said India would play "a positive role" at a time when the global community is beset by multiple challenges.
It will be guided by the five priorities --- new opportunities for progress, effective response to international terrorism, reforming multilateral systems, comprehensive approach to international peace and security and technology with a human touch.
"We seek to move towards a new orientation for reformed multilateral system," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said, besides “concrete and result oriented action for an effective response to international terrorism."
India assumes a seat at the council at a time when the “normal process of international governance has been under increasing strain as friction has increased and traditional and non traditional security challenges continue to grow unchecked and global institutions remain unreformed and under-represented.
India has pitched for reformed multilateralism, including a revamp of the United Nations, stating that its credibility and effectiveness were being called into question because of its “narrow" leadership.
"You do need reform multilateralism you need to make it representative. You refresh your phone regularly, someone needs to press that refresh button on the UN," Jaishankar said at the global technology summit in Bengaluru last month.
UNI SRJ SB 1720