M A I N   N E W S

PM to push for Security Council reforms at UN
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, September 18
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will strongly pitch for UN reforms and appeal to the international community to jointly combat the menace of terrorism when he addresses the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 28.

The PM is expected to call for early reform and expansion of the Security Council to reflect the contemporary reality and ask nations not to allow the global economic slowdown to trigger protectionism through various barriers. He is also likely to make it clear to the global community that the fight against terrorism cannot be selective and has to be fought on all fronts.

As of now, the PM will leave here for the US on September 25 at the head of a high-level delegation. He will meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on September 27 before proceeding to New York to address the UN General Assembly the next day. On the margins of the UNGA, he will hold talks with a number of world leaders.

A meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is also likely to take place on September 29 though the MEA has still not confirmed it. Talking to reporters here today, MEA Additional Secretary (International Organisations) Navtej Sarna said the high-level segment of the UNGA would start on September 24 and conclude on October 1 while the general debate would be held from September 23 to October 4. The focus of the UNGA this year would be on the ‘Post-2015 Development Agenda-Setting the Stage’. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will join the PM’s delegation in New York and represent India at a number of meetings to be held on the fringes. There would be high-level meetings on several subjects including disability and development, sustainable development, millennium development goals, migration and development and nuclear disarmament. Khurshid will participate in the meetings of the foreign ministers of G-77, BRICS, IBSA and G-4 countries. The G-4 includes India, Brazil, German and Japan. These four countries are seeking permanent seats in the UNSC and also support each other’s case for inclusion in the exclusive club.

Khurshid will also hold bilateral talks with the foreign ministers of several countries in New York. His meetings with his counterparts from China, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Germany and the UAE had already been fixed.

Asked about India’s campaign for an expansion of the UNSC, Sarna said New Delhi was satisfied that it had been able to keep the focus on reforms in the world body.

Joining forces

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to call for early reform and expansion of the Security Council to reflect the contemporary reality
• He would ask nations not to allow the global economic slowdown to trigger protectionism through various barriers
• He is also likely to make it clear to the global community that the fight against terrorism cannot be selective and has to be fought on all fronts