Big stage for India on the big stage: Prime Minister Modi will chair the high level open debate of UNSC for the first time, meeting on maritime security will be held tomorrow

The Prime Minister or the President of the member countries of the United Nations Security Council will participate in this meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the open debate on maritime security at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday. This meeting will be held through video conferencing at 5.30 pm. It will be attended by the Prime Ministers or Presidents of the member states of the United Nations Security Council, high-level briefers from the United Nations System and major regional organizations. The program will be made live on the UNSC website.

The open debate will discuss ways to effectively combat piracy and insecurity and strengthen coordination in the maritime domain. The United Nations Security Council has passed several resolutions discussing aspects of maritime security and crime. This will be the first time in such an open debate that maritime security will be included in the special agenda and it will be discussed.

This is because no country alone can tackle all the challenges of maritime security on its own. The issue needs to be discussed in the United Nations Security Council. The objective of this exercise is to develop a comprehensive approach to maritime security and promote safe movement while countering threats in the maritime domain.

India gets the presidency of UNSC
UNSC is one of the 6 major organs of the United Nations. Its responsibility is to maintain peace and security around the world. In the 75th year of India’s independence, India has got the chairmanship of this most powerful institution in the world. India took this responsibility from France on August 1.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over one of the meetings convened by India during his one-month stay in this position. For the first time in the last 75 years, an Indian Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the UNSC.

India’s 7th term
India has been elected a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the seventh time in January-2021 till December-2022. It was in this capacity that he was elected for the first time in 1950-51. Then elected in 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85 and 1991-92.

India has been trying for a long time to get permanent membership of this council and to improve its structure. The UNSC currently has 15 members. There are 5 permanent members – US, Russia, UK, France and China. The remaining 10 non-permanent members are elected every two years for the same term.