India returns to UN Security Council
India returns to UN Security Council
United Nations : India, which has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UN Security Council, began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the powerful organ of the world body on Friday.
India will sit in the 15-nation UNSC for the 2021-22 term as a non-permanent member - the eighth time that the country has had a seat on the powerful horseshoe table.
On Friday, India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico joined non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam and the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US. India will be UNSC President in August 2021 and will preside over the council again for a month in 2022.
The presidency of the council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States' names.
"As the largest democracy…we will be promoting very fundamental values like democracy, human rights and development," India's UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti told PTI. India's message will also be to ensure "how do we let diversity flourish in a united framework, which is in many ways the United Nations itself.