Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in the United Nations Security Council meeting that will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday (August 9). The meet will be on Maritime Security and will begin at 5.30 pm IST and happens at a time when India is the President of the council and decides the agenda of the high table.
"V.V. Putin will participate in a video conference within the framework of the UN Security Council on the subject of ‘Enhancing Maritime Security: A Case for International Cooperation.’ The event is held at the initiative of Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of the Republic of India which chairs the UN Security Council in August of this year," Kremlin press service in a statement said.
The participation of the Russian President shows Moscow's backing to the India-led initiative and the close relationship between both countries. Russia is a permanent member of the council--P5 and has been coordinating with New Delhi since it took a seat at the high table. India is a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a 2-year term which started on January 1, 2021.
PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to preside over a UN Security Council Open Debate. The meet will see several Heads of State & Government participating, including the President of Congo. The meeting will focus on finding ways to counter maritime crime and insecurity and strengthening coordination in the maritime domain.
A Ministry of External Affairs release said, "This will be the first time that maritime security will be discussed in a holistic manner as an exclusive agenda item in such a high-level open debate." The release explained, "Given that no country alone can address the diverse aspects of maritime security, it is important to consider this subject in a holistic manner in the United Nations Security Council."
India has been coming out with policies on the issue in the past. In 2015 India put forth the vision of SAGAR or ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region’. At the East Asia Summit in 2019, India announced Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative or IPOI in which countries like France, Australia have joined. IPOI has seven pillars of maritime security which are Maritime Ecology; Maritime Resources; Capacity Building and Resource Sharing; Disaster Risk Reduction and Management; Science, Technology and Academic Cooperation; and Trade Connectivity and Maritime Transport.