Bystander: EAM S Jaishankar slams UN role in ongoing conflicts

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday questioned the efficacy of the United Nations in the face of the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia saying it was “essentially a bystander”.

Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Jaishankar underscored the threat posed by artificial intelligence and said it was “as dangerous as nuclear weapons”. This comes in the backdrop of thousands of radio pagers exploding simultaneously in Lebanon two weeks ago.

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“The AI is here to stay and impact the world profoundly in the next decade. It is the next big thing and countries should be ready to deal with its after-effects,” Jaishankar warned, adding “AI is just as dangerous for the world as nuclear weapons once were”.

He used an economic analogy to target the UN, saying: “It is like an old company, which is not entirely keeping up with the market, but occupying the space.” The EAM referred to the Ukraine-Russia war and Israel-Hamas conflict and suggested that the UN was not able to do anything to resolve the crisis. “Now you have two conflicts going on in the world today. Where is the UN on them, essentially a bystander,” Jaishankar remarked. During Covid, he said, the UN did not do much either. He termed the West Asia conflict concerning, and said “a bunch of people sitting in Yemen can now disrupt global sea trade”.

Jaishankar, while addressing an event in the UN Headquarters last month, had said “without reforms, including expansion in both categories of the United Nations Security Council membership, the lack of effectiveness of the 15-nation body will only continue”.

“Expansion and proper representation in the permanent category is a particular imperative. Asia, Africa and Latin America — the Global South — cannot continue to be short-changed,” he had said, adding they must be given their legitimate voice.

Jaishankar expressed his optimism on the expansion of BRICS and Quad, and how countries were excited to develop and forge new ties with their international partners through these new-age alliances. On the shadow of uncertainty looming over the diplomatic ties with Bangladesh, Jaishankar sounded optimistic but maintained a cautious tone.