IN NEW YORK, JAISHANKAR SAYS INDIA ‘WILL SHAPE BIG DEBATES OF OUR TIMES’

External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday expressed confidence that India will continue to shape the “big debates of our times” as he interacted with UN permanent representative ambassador TS Tirumurti and other officials and diplomats from India to the United Nations.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is looking forward to meeting Jaishankar to discuss various issues, including Covid-19 efforts and strengthening of IndoPacific cooperation through the Quad, according to the US State Department spokesperson.

“A productive strategy session with @ambtstirumurti and our UN team in New York @IndiaUNNewYork. Confident that India will continue to shape the big debates of our times,” Jaishankar tweeted on Monday after his meeting with Tirumurti, deputy permanent representative ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu and diplomats from the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.

Later, Jaishankar also met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and highlighted the need for finding “urgent and effective” global vaccine solutions, called for “greater production” and “fairer distribution”.

This was the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since India began its eighth term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in January. “Critical to ramp up the vaccine supply chain to ensure greater production & fairer distribution,” Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting at the UN in New York.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the two leaders had a “very good discussion” and “discussed Covid-19, the issue of vaccines, and also a number of other peace and security issues”.

The leaders exchanged views on climate action, and Jaishankar said, “Greater resources are essential for larger ambitions. Financing will determine our seriousness and credibility.”