PM Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister to preside over the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former envoy to UN.
In a tweet, the former envoy to UN wrote, “A first in the making…With India as President of @UNSecurity Council in August, an Indian Prime Minister may perhaps preside, albeit virtually, a Council meeting for 1st time on 9 August 2021″.
Syed Akbaruddin, who is currently Dean of Kautilya School of Public Policy, said that in over 75 years, this is the first time Indian political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the 15-member UN body and this depicts that the country’s leadership wants to lead from the front.
“This is our eighth stint on the UNSC yet in the 75 years, this is the first time that our political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the Security Council,” Akbaruddinsaid.
The last time an Indian PM was engaged in this effort was the then PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 when he attended a UNSC meeting, he added.
India on Sunday assumed the presidency of the UNSC. Ambassador of India to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti said India took over the presidency from France.
India said it is organising three high-level signature meetings focusing on our priority areas–maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism.
This is India’s first presidency in the UNSC during its 2021-22 tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC. The two-year tenure of India as a non-permanent member of the UNSC began on January 1, 2021.
The first working day of India’s presidency will be on Monday, August 2 when Tirumurti will hold a hybrid press briefing in the UN headquarters on the Council’s programme of work for the month.
