Statement
Statement summary
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Minister for External Affairs of India, said the Charter calls for the building of peace and upholding the dignity of all human beings. But despite the UN assuming varied roles, “just look at the state of the world”, he said. He highlighted significant conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, slow progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and “recirculated commitments and creative accounting” concerning climate change. “If climate action itself is questioned, what hope is there for climate justice?” In trade, the world now sees tariff volatility and uncertain market access. Economic concerns have other dimensions as well – heightened technology control, the grip on supply chains and critical minerals, and the restriction of a global workplace. Each makes a compelling case for more international cooperation, not less. “But are we really headed in that direction? And where has the UN actually made a difference?”
Members meet at the Assembly as equals, he continued. Understanding and respect will only happen when political interference and economic pressures are resisted. Members must also firmly face up to threats, including terrorism, which is a priority, as it synthesises bigotry, violence, intolerance and fear. India has confronted this challenge since its independence, having a neighbour that is a centre for global terrorism. Terrorism is a shared threat, so it is essential that there is much deeper international cooperation. Its financing must be choked, and prominent terrorists must be sanctioned. Those who condone nations that sponsor terror will find that “it comes back to bite them,” he said, adding: “An objective report card will show that the UN is in a state of crisis”. Conflicts threaten peace, development is derailed by lack of resources, human rights are violated by terrorism, yet “the UN remains gridlocked”. As its ability to forge common ground diminishes, belief in multilateralism recedes.
Central to the erosion of UN credibility has been resistance to reform. Permanent and non-permanent membership of the Council must be expanded. “India stands ready to assume greater responsibilities,” he said, noting that the Global South has a duty to contribute and an obligation to motivate. India has responded internationally with development projects, crisis response, ensuring safe commerce, and security assistance. In Ukraine and the Middle East, nations that can engage all sides must step up in the search for solutions. In challenging global times, it is imperative to stay strong and deepen friendships. “International cooperation must prevail because islands of prosperity cannot flourish in an ocean of turbulence”. A world order requires common purpose and empathy for others – “that is where we look to the United Nations”. For all countries to improve the world, they must have the opportunity. Reforming multilateralism is the obvious way.
In his address to the General Assembly, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s Minister for External Affairs outlined the failings of a “gridlocked” UN, whilst asserting the need for more international cooperation and a reformed Organisation.
*****
Read also the UN News stories in Hindi and Urdu about the declaration made by the Minister for External Affairs of India at the General Debate.
*****
“How has the UN lived up to expectations,” asked Mr. Jaishankar, pointing to the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as West Asia and “innumerable hotspots” which “don’t even make the news.”
The minister decried a perceived lack of global solidarity on a number of issues: he described the slow progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (which are way off track for completion by the 2030 deadline) as “a sorry picture,” condemned the “recirculated commitments and creative accounting” that, he said, pass for climate action, and accused wealthy countries of insulating themselves energy and food insecurity, whilst resource-stressed nations “scramble to survive only to hear sanctimonious lectures thereafter.”
Global economic concerns include “tariff volatility and uncertain market access,” argued the minister, technological control, supply chain and critical minerals, the protection of sea lanes and restrictions on the evolution of a global workplace.
These issues point to a need for more international cooperation, he suggested, whilst questioning the UN’s ability to solve them. Mr. Jaishankar declared the UN is “in a state of crisis,” and gridlocked, partly due to a resistance to reform even though most members want change. “It is imperative that we see through the cynicism and purposefully address the reform agenda,” he declared.
Facing up to terrorism
In a reference to ongoing disputes with Pakistan, Mr. Jaishankar asserted that, for several decades, major international terrorist attacks have been traced back to India’s neighbour.
He said that India exercises its right to defend its people against terrorism and bring its perpetrators to justice. Fighting this threat, he said, is an area where much deeper international cooperation is needed, and relentless pressure put on the whole terror ecosystem.
India’s ‘duty to contribute’
Mr. Jaishankar went on to portray India as a leader in the Global South, responsible for more than 600 development projects in 78 countries. The country, he said, steps forward to respond to the urgent needs of other countries, whether in terms of “finance, food, fertiliser of fuel.”
He gave the example of the emergency aid India provided after the 2024 Afghanistan earthquake, and the more recent earthquake in Myanmar, and the contribution that India makes to peacekeeping, providing troops as blue helmets in conflict hotspots from the Golan Heights to Western Sahara and Somalia.
‘Islands of prosperity cannot flourish in an ocean of turbulence’
The minister then lauded the economic achievements of his country, particularly over the last decade. He mentioned the Indian start-up ecosystem, rapidly growing infrastructure and commitment to harnessing artificial intelligence responsibly.
India’s approach, explained Mr. Jaishankar, can be summed up as self-reliance, strong security, and the self-confidence of a rapidly growing major economy.
He concluded with a call for the ninth decade of the UN to be one of leadership and hope. “International cooperation must prevail because islands of prosperity cannot flourish in an ocean of turbulence.”
Full statement
Read the full statement, in PDF format.
Photo
Previous sessions
Access the statements from previous sessions.
Right of reply
The representative of India condemned the “absurd theatrics” from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, who “once again glorified terrorism that is so central to their foreign policy”. She stressed that “no degree of drama and no level of lies can conceal the facts this is the very same Pakistan” which shielded the Resistance Front, a Pakistani-sponsored terror outfit, from the responsibility of carrying out the “barbaric massacre of tourists in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir”. A country “long steeped in the tradition of deploying and exporting terrorism has no shame in advancing the most ludicrous narratives to that end”, she said. Pakistan must immediately shut down all terrorist camps and hand over those wanted in India.
>> Read also the UN News story in Hindi.
The representative of India called it “telling” that a neighbour “who was not named” chose to nevertheless respond and admit its longstanding practice of cross-border terrorism. Pakistan’s reputation speaks for itself, as “its fingerprints are so visible in terrorism across so many geographies”, he said - a menace not only to its neighbours but to the entire world. “No arguments or untruths can ever whitewash the crimes” of “Terroristan”, he stated.