India pushed for dialogue and diplomacy as conflicts raged across the world in '23

As wars and conflicts raged around the world this year, India urged dialogue and diplomacy to resolve them and issued a consistent call for reformed multilateralism amid the failure of a polarized UN Security Council to secure international peace. to enforce.

India, which became the world's most populous country in 2023, emerged as the voice of the Global South when it spent the year chairing the G20, the grouping of the world's largest economies.

At a time when the world, as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar noted, was witnessing sharp East-West polarization and deep North-South divides, India delivered its thematic G20 message 'One Earth, One Family, One Future ' to the world stage. , also at the United Nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led an unprecedented Yoga Day celebration at the UN Headquarters on June 21 and urged the international community to use the power of yoga to build bridges of friendship, a peaceful world and a cleaner, greener and sustainable future to build.

Let us join hands to realize the goal of: One Earth, One Family, One Future,” Modi said as he led the historic yoga session on the sprawling North Lawn at the UN Headquarters, nine years after he first had been proposed by the UN Podium of the General Assembly on the occasion of the International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration.

India's call for unity and commitment to diplomacy and dialogue to find effective solutions to crises was also reiterated by Jaishankar at the annual high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly in September.

While greeting world leaders from the iconic UNGA lectern with Namaste from Bharat', Jaishankar said the world was witnessing an exceptional period of unrest and tensions which have been exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fallout from persistent conflicts, tensions and disputes.

At this juncture, India assumed the chairmanship of the G20 with a sense of exceptional responsibility. Our vision of One Earth, One Family, One Future sought to focus on the core concerns of the many, not just the narrow interests of a few, Jaishankar said.

The G20 Summit in Delhi affirmed that 'diplomacy and dialogue are the only effective solutions. The international order is diverse and we must take into account differences, if not differences. over,” Jaishankar told world leaders.

Jaishankar emphasized that the Summit of the Future, to be hosted by the United Nations in September next year, should serve as a serious opportunity to bring about change, advocate fairness and reform multilateralism, including expanding the membership of the Security Council.

The call for reform of multilateral institutions such as the UN and especially the Security Council came from the highest levels of the world body as Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a loud call to reform the powerful 15-nation UN body in line with the world today and based on equity.

The UN chief told world leaders at the UNGA high-level meeting that the Council reflects the political and economic realities of 1945 and risks becoming part of the problem rather than solving it.

“Our world is losing its balance. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are increasing. And it seems that we are not able to come together to respond to this,” Guterres said.

'I have no illusions. Reforms are a matter of power. I know there are many competing interests and agendas. But the alternative to reform is not the status quo. The alternative to reform is further fragmentation. It is reform or break,” he said.

The Security Council's failure to act in times of global crises came into sharp relief during the conflict in Ukraine and again in the aftermath of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel by Hamas.

India expressed deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and widespread loss of civilian lives in the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged the parties to work towards creating the conditions necessary for peace and resuming direct negotiations through through de-escalation and ending violence.

The Council's inability to take repeated action towards achieving a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war, due to vetoes by its permanent members, once again raised concerns and questions about its effectiveness in dealing with crises and underlined the need for urgent reforms.

Guterres invoked Article 99, a rare and dramatic constitutional step under the United Nations Charter, to appeal to the Security Council for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and to avert a 'humanitarian catastrophe, which he says may have irreversible consequences for the Palestinians and Palestinians. peace and security in the region.

This was the first time Guterres had invoked Article 99 of the Charter since becoming UN Secretary-General in 2017. Article 99 provides that the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which, in his opinion, may endanger the preservation of the UN. of international peace and security.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said that India, as a member of the Global South, shares the collective fear that we do not have a voice at the high table on issues of great importance to the South.

In a scathing criticism of the current composition of the UN's highest body, Kamboj said yesterday's Security Council is always too late today and questioned whether the security system of 1945 will work in the year 2023.

If the trillion-dollar question is to ensure peace, do we have a peace infrastructure that is representative of today's times and realities? Kamboj said.

Kamboj wondered if 2023 is the new 1945, referring to the year the powerful UN body came into being.

She said that at the UNGA's annual high-level meeting in September this year, there were unequivocal calls for comprehensive and meaningful reforms from more than 85 world leaders.

These calls must be answered. We all need to realize that the clock is ticking, and turning the other way in the face of global challenges is simply not an option. Multilateral institutions rarely die, they simply fade into irrelevance, Kamboj said.

G4 countries Brazil, Germany, India and Japan also said the world today is facing a proliferation of crises that are having a dramatic impact on international peace and security. More than ever, we need a representative and well-functioning Security Council to fulfill its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It is our responsibility to make progress toward that goal.

Amid deep divisions and inaction within the world body, India underlined messages of unity, bridging divisions and sustainability – from the commemoration of International Yoga Day, which created a Guinness World Record for the participation of people of most nationalities, to the promotion of millet after that year. 2023 was declared the 'International Year of Millets'.

Guterres, who attended the G20 leaders' summit in Delhi in September, expressed concern that people are suffering, the world is hurting and the planet is on fire.

“The Indian Presidency of the G20 has reminded us that we are one Earth and one family with one future. So let us act in the same way,” the UN chief said.