The urgent need for reforms in the United Nations, ongoing Ukraine conflict and developmental issues figured prominently here on Monday during talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Csaba Korosi.
The UNGA president also paid floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat on the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation.
"Welcomed President of General Assembly Csaba Korösi, hosting him for a millet lunch. Discussed global challenges, UN reform, the Ukraine conflict & G20 agenda. Assured him of India’s fullest support in developmental progress and reformed multilateralism," Jaishankar tweeted.
The Hungarian diplomat, who took over as President of the UNGA in September last year, arrived in India on Sunday on a three-day visit at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.
Korosi said though he did not discuss cross-border terrorism with Prime Minister Narendra Modi but “we are fully aware of the fact that this is an important issue for the world.” He also said India has a vision of how this world should look like and what India’s role should look like. “We are working very hard to make it happen in the General Assembly,” the UNGA president added.
He said this after meeting the Prime Minister and Union Energy Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Their level of support, understanding and strategic push was admirable, he added. On the issue of reforms, he said the General Assembly has been so divided. There are at least five negotiating groups. “That’s why I turned to all of them and all member states that if we take these reforms seriously and how,’ Korosi said.
On the reforms in the United Nations Security Council(UNSC), he said it is one of the major drivers of the discussions. “P-5 have special powers in keeping peace and keeping security in the world. In order to encourage each other. Now veto is used to block each other,” the UNGA president said. Permanent Five of P-5 nations of the UNSC include the US, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France.
In a lecture earlier in the day, Korosi said the "dysfunctional" system of the UN Security Council has been reflected in the "absurd" situation arising out of one of its permanent members attacking Ukraine and the global body's failure to address it.
In an address at a think-tank, Korosi called for urgent reform of the UNSC to reflect the changing balance of global power and economic heft of various countries and criticised the slow process that was started around 17 years back to bring the changes.
India has been strongly demanding permanent membership in the UNSC considering the size of its population and role in international affairs.
Addressing a group of diplomats, strategic affairs experts and academicians at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), the UNGA president also wondered why there is still no agreement on a text to take forward the reform process.
