Prime Minister Modi will be chairing an open debate at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday. According to the ministry of external affairs (MEA), the meeting, through video conferencing, is scheduled to take place at 5.30 pm IST. The first-ever PM to chair a United Nations Security Council, PM Modi will shine a spotlight on enhancing maritime security. The debate on maritime security is the first of three signature events India is holding as UNSC chair. The other two are on UN peacekeeping and counter-terrorism.
Here are the 10 things to know about the UNSC debate:
1. As a non-permanent member, India will be given the rotational presidency of the top world body for the month of August. The UN Security Council has passed resolutions on different aspects of maritime security and crime but this will be the first time that maritime security will be discussed in a holistic manner as an exclusive agenda item in such a high-level open debate.
2. Titled ‘Enhancing Maritime Security -A Case for International Cooperation’, the UNSC debate will be broadcast live on the United Nations Security Council website and will focus on ways to effectively counter maritime crime and strengthening coordination in the maritime domain.
3. The debate on maritime security is the first of three signature events India is holding as UNSC chair. The other two are on on UN peacekeeping and counter-terrorism.
4. The meeting is expected to be attended by several heads of state and government of member states of the United Nations Security Council. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix- Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are among the world leaders who are expected to attend the debate.
5. In 2015, PM Modi put forward the vision of SAGAR or ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region’. It focused on cooperative measures for sustainable use of the oceans, and provides a framework for a safe, secure, and stable maritime domain in the region.
6. “The oceans have played an important part in India’s history right from the time of the Indus Valley Civilization. Based on our civilizational ethos that sees the seas as an enabler of shared peace and prosperity, Prime Minister Modi put forward the vision of SAGAR in 2015,” the MEA was quoted saying.
7. In 2019 this initiative was further elaborated at the East Asia Summit through the Indo-Pacific Oceans’ Initiative (IPOI) with a focus on seven pillars of maritime security.
8. Last week, another meeting was convened under India’s presidency on the Afghanistan situation where member states expressed concern about the deteriorating situation and called for a political settlement.
9. Pakistan expressed displeasure at not being invited to the special meeting. At a presser after the UNSC meeting on Friday, Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN said, “We made a formal request for participation but it was denied.”
10. This is India’s tenth tenure at the UN Security Council. So far it has been President of the body nine times: June 1950, September 1967, December 1972, October 1977, February 1985, October 1991, December 1992, August 2011, and November 2012.
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