India showcases grain power to start new role

WASHINGTON: India has begun its presidency of the UN Security Council with a generous dose of Indian grain power. T S Tirumurti, the Indian permanent representative (PR) to the UN was expected to organise on Monday a traditional breakfast that PRs of incoming presidencies host for counterparts from the rest of the 15 member nations.

The menu comprises the usual fare for such breakfasts crepes, some breads, juices, coffee and fruits. But some of Tirumurti’s guests would probably have had something already, something really Indian before heading out - oat clusters with multigrain flakes and Alphonso mango bits or crunchy millet granola bar or buttermilk millet crackers with caramelised onions, or just some Cajun trail mix in a gift hamper.

“We did it to highlight the initiative take by the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] to declare the year 2023 the International Year of Millets, which we had successfully spearheaded in the UN General Assembly a few months ago,” said Tirumurti, who spent months on the breakfast hamper, albeit with help from his wife Gowri Tirumurti and mission colleagues.

The incoming presidency’s breakfast is a UN Security Council tradition. And Tirumurti was to host it at the Permanent Indian Mission, the Charles Correa-designed aesthetic wonder amid steel-and-glass Manhattan buildings.

It will then be followed by India holding the first formal business of the day in the chair - a closed door UN Security Council consultation, which will be followed by a presidential statement that Tirumurti will deliver on Darfur.

Later in the day, he will brief the rest of the UN general assembly members.