The 11-days that India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar allocated for his recent visit to the United States (US) to attend the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and numerous other multilateral and bilateral events were a sign of the increasing confidence and assertiveness that India is now displaying on the international stage.
Apart from addressing the UNGA, which had the theme this session of ‘A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges’, Jaishankar engaged with a wide and disparate mix of power players, from the US to China and Russia in fora such as the Quad, the BRICS and other important groupings. He also had bilateral engagements on the sidelines, including with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and concluded his US visit with three days in Washington D.C. meeting key US interlocutors there to further consolidate the India-US strategic partnership.
Across these engagements, what was perceptible was the willingness that India demonstrated to articulate publicly and directly both infringements of its core interests as well as issues of pressing global concern, even when these involved powerful countries such as the US and China. Jaishankar’s stress on UN reforms, the misuse of terrorist listings for political purposes by the likes of China and Pakistan, and the absurdity of the US quoting terrorist threats to Pakistan while giving hundreds of millions of dollars to it for F16 fighter jet maintenance stood out.
The UN noted that Jaishankar, in his address at the opening of the 77th General Assembly, had reminded his audience that India was celebrating 75 years of independence, which he described as a story of the “toil, determination, innovation, and enterprise of millions of ordinary Indians”. Jaishankar outlined India’s commitment to multilateralism, evidenced, he said, by the decision to supply vaccines to over 100 nations, provide disaster relief to those in distress, and partner with other countries, with a focus on green growth, better connectivity, digital delivery and accessible health.
He informed the gathering that India was filling gaps in the humanitarian needs of nearby countries and regions, including the supply of 50,000 metric tons of wheat and multiple tranches of medicines and vaccines to Afghanistan, the extension of $3.8 billion worth of credit to Sri Lanka for fuel, essential commodities and trade settlement, and the supply of 10,000 metric tons of food aid and vaccine shipments to Myanmar.
On the war in Ukraine, raising the question of whether India sided with Ukraine or Russia, Jaishankar asserted that “India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there. We are on the side that respects the UN Charter and its founding principles. We are on the side that calls for dialogue and diplomacy as the only way out”.
He pointed out that with food, fuel, and fertilizer costs rising, it is in the interests of the international community to work constructively to find an early resolution to the war. Saying that the world was poised for “transformational change”, Jaishankar observed that in addition to the war, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate events had also added to the disruption the world was already facing. India, therefore, was pursuing climate action and climate justice, and stands ready to “support any collective and equitable endeavour to protect our environment and to further global wellness”.
He announced that as it assumes the presidency of the G20, India will work with other members to address the serious issues of debt, economic growth, food and energy security, and the environment.
The UN also quoted Jaishankar’s assertion on the need to reform the currently “anachronistic and ineffective” UN Security Council (UNSC). He described it as deeply unfair, denying entire continents and regions a voice in a forum that deliberates their future. Jaishankar called for serious negotiations on the matter to be decisively addressed, and for serious negotiations to proceed sincerely, rather than being blocked by procedural tactics. He concluded by echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent advice to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said, “We believe and advocate that this is not an era of war and conflict. On the contrary, it is a time for development and cooperation…It is vital that we continue to believe in the promise of diplomacy and the need for international cooperation”.
By the time his visit concluded on 28 September, the Indian EAM came across as more optimistic about the prospect of reforms in the UN. He told journalists at a wrap-up briefing that India believes US President Joe Biden’s promise at the 77th session of the UNGA of reforming the UNSC was different from past Washington pledges, even if no one country could make it happen alone.
The Times of India quoted Jaishankar as saying, “My understanding is that the position that President Biden put forward is the most explicit and specific articulation of the US support for reform of the UN, including the Security Council. I don’t think it’s a reiteration of something, I don’t think… it’s business as usual. Now, how this advances, where it goes, I think, depends on all of us, the members of the UN, and where we take it. We have never thought that it was an easy process. But we do believe that the need for reform cannot be denied forever”. Referring obliquely to regional countries such as China, which is opposed to the UNSC candidature of both India and Japan despite both countries having eminently legitimate claims to the body, and Pakistan, which has strongly opposed India’s bid despite having no explicable or reasonable basis for doing so, Jaishankar said, “you also know where the reluctance comes from”.
The UN also quoted Jaishankar’s comments on terrorism and counter-terrorism in his address to the UNGA. The EAM said, “Having borne the brunt of cross border terrorism for decades, India firmly advocates a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach. In our view, there is no justification for any act of terrorism, regardless of motivation. And no rhetoric, however sanctimonious, can ever hide blood-stained hands”. What the UN did not quote was equally weighty. Jaishankar had added, “The United Nations responds to terrorism by sanctioning its perpetrators.
Those who politicize the UNSC 1267 Sanctions regime, sometimes even to the extent of defending proclaimed terrorists, do so at their own peril. Believe me, they advance neither their own interests nor indeed their reputation”. This second part of his statement was directed against China, which on behalf of its close and unquestioning ally Pakistan, and as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UNSC, has on multiple occasions blocked bids and proposals by the US, India and others to designate Pakistan-based terrorists under the 1267 sanctions regime of the Council.
The latest such incident occurred this month itself when China put a hold on a proposal moved by the US and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taibah (LeT) terrorist Sajid Mir, one of the main planners and executors of in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks who has figured prominently in several past EFSAS publications, as a global terrorist. Last month, China put a similar hold at the UN on a proposal by the US and India to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JEM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terror group. Before that, in June this year China had put a hold on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. These are just the most recent instances from a long list.