New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday evening made India’s strongest pitch yet for a more prominent role in the UN Security Council, asking the global body “Till when do we have to wait? Till when will India be kept away from the UN’s decision-making process?”
“When we were weak, we didn’t trouble the world. When we became strong, we didn’t become a bojh (burden) on the world. Till when do we have to wait? India has sent soldiers to UN peace-keeping missions and India has lost the most number of soldiers. India has always thought about the welfare of the world,” the Prime Minister said in strong opening remarks.
PM Modi, who was addressing the General Assembly via video conference, also reminded the UN that 130 crore Indians still believed in its ideals, but said the global body needed to adapt and change to stay relevant in current times.
Prime Minister Modi acknowledged that while the UN had several notable achievements to its name in the 75 years of its experience, including the prevention of a third world war, “we can’t deny terrorist attacks shook the world”.
“We have successfully avoided a third world war but we cannot deny many wars happened, many civil wars happened. Terrorist attack shook the world. Blood was spilled. Those were killed were like you and me. Children left the world prematurely,” he said.
The Security Council is the UN’s highest-decision making forum.
There are five permanent members – the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and France. India was elected as a non-permanent member for a two-year term in June, along with Ireland, Mexico and Norway.
