India, US on same page on UN reforms

NEWYORK:India has extended its support to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to reform the UN, saying it should include the expansion of the world body’s permanent and non-permanent members to keep pace with the changed times.

Trump, during a discussion on UN reform on Monday, insisted that he had always seen the “great potential” of the organisation but warned that “bureaucracy” was stopping it from realising its potential.

Trump, once a harsh critic of the UN, called for reforms in the body — a view India has been expressing for a long time.

“We have said that the world body should be reformed to keep pace with the changed times including the expansion of its permanent or non-permanent members,” Union external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters at a news conference here.

“We have consistently maintained the same line,” he said in his statement.

Kumar was referring to the high-level meeting on UN reform chaired by Trump. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meeting.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters that Trump supports the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres’ reform agenda, and was pleased to join nearly 130 countries to support a big, bold reform to eliminate inefficiency.

In his address, Guterres said, “We are reforming our peace and security architecture – to ensure we are stronger in prevention, more agile in mediation, and more effective and cost-effective in peacekeeping operations.

“We are reforming our development system to become much more field-focused, well-coordinated and accountable to better assist countries through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – our contribution to a fair globalisation. We need to bring decision-making closer to the people we serve; trust and empower managers; reform cumbersome and costly budgetary procedures; and eliminate duplicative structures,” he said.