Context:

On December 31, India transitioned out of its eighth term on the UN Security Council. 

Opportunity: 

• It was an exhilarating experience to be given the opportunity to preside over the apex UN organ — tasked with the maintenance of international peace and security — on behalf of 1.4 billion of the fellow countrymen and women. 

India’s Contributions in this journey:

• India continues to contribute positively in an endeavour to bring solutions to the global top table. Example: The India-UN Development Partnership Fund. 
• Beyond summits and high-level events, India’s position on issues of core interest, for instance on counter-terrorism, has now become the mainstream narrative of the international community. 
  • India’s Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee is still remembered as one of focus and determination, a strong voice for a united and coherent front for the fight against terror.
• In February 2023, India scaled a new high becoming the Chair of the UN Commission for Social Development. 
• The deployment in January 2023 of the all-woman peacekeeping contingent to Abyei in Africa was a remarkable step. 
  • The determination to deploy women in the cause of peace is only matched by the UN’s own bold emphasis on a strong female presence in the field, in an effort to secure optimal outcomes.
• Much of this goodwill for India does translate into concrete and positive outcomes on the ground. For instance, the victory of India in the recently concluded elections to the UN Statistical Commission.

The India way:

• The India way is gaining increasing traction at the United Nations. 
• India’s promotion of millets in this International Year has gained recognition and acceptance at the UN. 
• More has been streamlined by the Permanent Mission team into the “India Roundtables” at the UN, a discourse which brings the Indian perspective to the table. 

Reflection of the Indian worldview:

• It seeks the prosperity and welfare of humanity as a whole.
• It is about how an effective multilateral system should work with the people as its principal focus, a human-centric global development model, as opposed to a self-centred one. 
• India was indeed the “first port of call” for many member states of the Global South for Covid vaccines during the pandemic. More importantly, this moment was not monetised.

Conclusion:

In a fast-shifting global landscape and as we build a “New India”, the functions and responsibilities for our diplomacy will only increase and multiply manifold. The words of Swami Vivekanand, “Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is achieved”, will continue to serve to inspire and motivate.

News Source: The Indian Express

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