President Murmu, Serbian Counterpart To Strengthen Cooperation In UN

Apart from underlining the large potential for trade and investment, India and Serbia agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral forums.

Addressing a press briefing in Serbia, President Droupadi Murmu said that she and her Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic discussed important aspects of bilateral relationships and global and regional issues of common interest.

“We agreed to strengthen our coordination and cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral fora,” read the Press Statement of President Droupadi Murmu.

Recently, the UN General Assembly president has said the UN Security Council (UNSC) has become “paralysed” and “dysfunctional” in its “present form.”

The UNSC was last reformed in 1965 when it increased its nonpermanent members from 11 to 15 and increased the necessary votes for the adoption of resolutions from 7 to 9.

At the 2005 World Summit, all Heads of States and Governments unanimously pledged themselves to an agenda for early and meaningful reform of the United Nations.

India is of the view that the international community needs to make more determined efforts to revitalize the General Assembly to enable it to fulfill its rightful role as the principal deliberative organ of the United Nations.

It is India’s belief that no reform of the United Nations is complete without the composition of the Security Council changing to reflect the contemporary realities of the twenty-first century. This requires expansion in the membership of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories.

India is a member of the G4 [India, Brazil, Japan and Germany] and the L – 69, the grouping of developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America that have been at the forefront of inter-governmental negotiations on the reform of the Security Council since 2009, India has relentlessly pursued this cause.

The Indian delegation has affirmed that the process of bringing about UNSC reforms should not be seen as an exercise ad-infinitum and called for concrete outcomes on this subject at the earliest through the initiation of text-based negotiations.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu held delegation-level talks with President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and both Presidents discussed important aspects of the India-Serbia bilateral relationship.

“President Droupadi Murmu held delegation-level talks with President @avucic

of Serbia. Both the Presidents discussed important aspects of India-Serbia bilateral relationship and global and regional issues of common interest,” the official handle of Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.

Calling the relations between India and Serbia during the presser, “unique” since the days of the Non-Alignment Movement, the President said that the relationship between both countries is based on mutual trust, mutual understanding and support for each other on issues of core interest.

We remain committed to injecting more ambition into this vital relationship, the President added.

During the meeting, President Murmu and Serbian counterpart Vucic agreed to strengthen long-standing bilateral connections, particularly in trade and investment, research and technology (including information and digital technologies), and people-to-people interactions.

Furthermore, President Murmu also thanked President Aleksandar Vucic and the people of Serbia for the warm welcome and hospitality.

“I am delighted to visit Serbia, my first State Visit to any European country. I thank President Aleksandar Vucic and the people of Serbia for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to me and my delegation,” she said.

On this occasion, I recall the visit of President Vucic to India in 2017, as the then Prime Minister of Serbia. His visit set the tone for further expansion of our bilateral partnership, President Murmu added, according to the official press statement.

President Droupadi Murmu reached Belgrade, Serbia, earlier on Wednesday, in the final leg of her two-nation visit to Suriname and Serbia.

The ongoing visit by President Murmu marks the first such visit by an Indian head of state to Serbia. In a special gesture, she was received by the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, and accorded a guard of honour at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.

From the airport, the President travelled to Gandijeva Street where he paid his respects at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.

She also interacted with the diaspora and friends of India at a Community Reception hosted by the Ambassador of India to Serbia, Sanjiv Kohli, in Belgrade on Wednesday.

(Source ANI)