The highlight of India's presence in the UNSC has been its presidency in August this year

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN TS Tirumurti has said that the country’s performance at the UNSC has once again indicated that the world needs it at the Security Council permanently.

“Our performance again indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently,” Tirumurti said on Wednesday in a video posted on Twitter, explaining how India had an impact on world politics and peacekeeping.

“The highlight of our presence in the UN Security Council so far has been our presidency in August. Prime Minister of India first time chaired a high-level meeting of UNSC. Visit of PM to the UN and address at United Nation's General Assembly was the high point,” Tirumurti said.

Speaking about India’s predominant role in UN Peacekeeping operations, Tirumurti said that the nation gave UN Peacekeeping a “strong” focus in the last year. The Indian ambassador noted that after nearly five decades, New Delhi piloted a resolution on “Protecting the Protectors”, calling for accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. Tirumurti went on to note that India even gifted 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines to cover every peacekeeper and every peacekeeping mission throughout the world.

When India assumed the rotating presidency of the Council, not many had anticipated the unraveling of Afghanistan, which fell into the hands of the Taliban on August 15. The development in the war-ravaged nation was of “great concern”, requiring the UNSC to act without a delay, he said.

“Therefore, Resolution 2593 on Afghanistan was quickly adopted under India’s presidency, which demanded assurances that Afghan soil will not be used for terrorism and that authorities in Kabul will act against all terrorists, including those designated by the 1267 Sanctions Committee”, he added.

Further, “India has been consistent in its support for transition to democracy whether in Africa” as well, Tirumurti said.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN said India continues to keep the focus on countering terrorism. During its presidency, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also chaired a meeting on ISIL/Daesh, wherein he called for action against terrorism.

Moreover, in Africa, India has sought to bring the necessary balance to the debates relating to the continent. Tirumurti stated that India has made its views clear in the ratio of burdening African nations with an “unrealistic benchmark” on their sanctions regime. India has called for a greater commitment from the global community to assist Africa fight terrorism.

On issues affecting the developing world, India has also been a strong voice to protect their interest.

Tirumurti added that India even firmly opposed the attempts by countries to bring the issue of climate change into the UNSC.