New York, Dec 2 (UNI): A bust of iconic Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi will be inaugurated at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, New Delhi’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj announced on Thursday.
The news coincides with New Delhi taking over the rotating presidency of the 15-member UN Security Council for the month of December.
During its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council which ends this month, India previously assumed the chair of the UNSC last August.
Kamboj said Gandhi’s bust will be inaugurated by Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the North Lawns of the UN building on 14 December in an elaborate ceremony attended by 15 UNSC members, including the five new incoming non-permanent states.
The bust is being gifted by New Delhi and designed by eminent Indian sculptor Ram Sutar, who also crafted the world’s tallest statue, the ‘Statue of Unity’ in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Kamboj stated that the “focus” of the Indian UNSC presidency would be on two major themes — building a new orientation towards reformed multilateralism and the global counter-terrorism approach and the way forward.
The Indian diplomat bemoaned the fact that “we have not moved an inch” for 22 years when the global leaders first called for “comprehensive UN Security Council reforms” to represent the voices of the developing world.
“And there is even a lack of a negotiating text. Similarly, the global development architecture outside the United Nations is equally distorted and would require intense efforts to enhance the coherence and consistency of the international monetary, financial and trading system,” she stated.
