Syed Akbaruddin

What UNGA can do in a turbulent world order

The side events, of civil society and businesses engaging with leaders, take centre stage in a largely symbolic UNGA. However, its key role in consolidating attitudes on several global issues cannot be discarded

The UN’s successes are small in comparison to the mammoth challenges we confront. In an imperfect world, however, that is all we can manage. (AP)

opinion

Published on Sep 25, 2022 08:38 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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UNSC is not fulfilling its primary mandate

The Security Council’s objective was to stop a conflict by addressing its cause. But, for years now, it has taken on the subsidiary pursuit of being a humanitarian council. India needs to consider if this is the change it wants

It is not in the interest of the five permanent members to neuter the Security Council completely. They can work out other uses for it. They could prefer it to be an option to address issues where their primary interests are not at stake (Shutterstock)

opinion

Updated on Mar 20, 2022 05:57 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Syed Akbaruddin calls UNSC meeting over Ukraine a ‘sacred drama’

UNSC’s failure to adopt the resolution enables the co-sponsors to float a similar resolution in the General Assembly.

Ukrainian tanks move on a road before an attack in Lugansk region. (AFP)

india news

Updated on Feb 27, 2022 04:31 AM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin, New Delhi

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UNSC fiddles while Kyiv burns

The trappings of a sacrosanct ritual were all there. Before entering the Security Council chambers, European diplomats and the Ukrainian Representative stood with the Ukrainian flag in front of Pablo Picasso’s ‘Guernica’, a tapestry about the Spanish Civil War.

Russian missiles attack an apartment building in Ukraine.

analysis

Updated on Feb 26, 2022 06:35 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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By invitation: Syed Akbaruddin says poverty of results shows the flaws in UNSC design

The Security Council is considering the Ukraine issue for the fourth time in less than four weeks

Slovak customs officers help people to cross the border as they arrive from Ukraine to Slovakia, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia. (REUTERS)

india news

Published on Feb 25, 2022 11:50 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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UNSC: Forum of little diplomacy and more grandstanding

Exclusive: The Security Council was not conceived to be platform for great power conflict solutions. With great power competition now in play, the Council’s inadequacies are on display. The Ukraine resolution will be moved in the UNSC this evening

Ukrainian soldiers take positions against invading Russians on a bridge in Kyviv

analysis

Updated on Feb 25, 2022 08:23 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Revival of nuclear concert diplomacy

The recent P5 statement on nuclear disarmament is hollow and contradicts the policies of most UNSC members. From India’s perspective, the statement does nothing to allay concerns about China modernising its nuclear arsenal

Every effort to deter a nuclear catastrophe should be pursued vigorously. But the sole globally accepted platform for negotiating nuclear issues should be the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (Reuters)

opinion

Updated on Jan 17, 2022 09:00 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Omicron: A failure of global governance

WTO’s inability to set norms for a patent waiver; WHO’s inability to redress vaccine inequity; and rampant vaccine nationalism, have all contributed to the emergence of Omicron

Although its origins are unclear, scientists have often warned that new variants are likely if large parts of the globe are unvaccinated, leaving reservoirs from which potentially vaccine-resistant mutations emerge (PTI)

opinion

Updated on Dec 02, 2021 08:30 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Climate action will affect trade, investment, security

If trade measures have gained visibility recently and investment rethinking is in its incipient stage, the climate-security nexus has been in the making for more than a decade

New thinking, new institutions, new actions and new messaging will be required to address the new situations that will inevitably arise. New India needs to be ready for all this (AFP)

opinion

Updated on Nov 26, 2021 07:20 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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When foreign policy comes home

From environment to health, migration to digital tech, external affairs is intrinsically linked to internal affairs. Adjust thinking and systems accordingly

If foreign policy is no longer foreign, in the terms we considered it in the past, do the structures and systems that have been in vogue for long not need to be tuned to new realities? (AFP)

opinion

Updated on Oct 20, 2021 03:45 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Beyond Quad, the quest for multi-alignment

The upcoming Quad summit aside, PM Modi should use the UN speech on September 25 to reach out to smaller States and address their sensitivities

First Quad Leaders’ Virtual Summit in New Delhi on March 12, 2021. (File photo)

opinion

Updated on Sep 20, 2021 06:00 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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UNSC: Reading India’s global signals right

PM Narendra Modi presiding over a virtual SC debate — a first for any Indian PM — is a sign of a new, more assertive Indian willingness to contribute positively to global peace and security issues at the highest political level

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at UNSC debate on 'Enhancing Maritime Security: A Case For International Cooperation', in New Delhi. (ANI)

opinion

Updated on Aug 13, 2021 04:39 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Expanding India’s foreign policy canvas

Climate, health, digital tech, and geo-economics will define the global conversation. India must be proactive

opinion

Updated on Jul 22, 2021 08:41 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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UNSG Antonio Guterres is set for a second term. This time, it will be different

There is a perception that Guterres’s first term lacked the fizz his election generated in 2016. Perhaps it was on account of the SG being in firefighting mode to keep US financial cuts at bay and ensuring damage limitation

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. (REUTERS)

opinion

Updated on Jun 17, 2021 11:53 AM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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A new chapter for the TRIPS waiver proposal

Last year, on October 2, India paired with South Africa and submitted to the WTO a proposal for a waiver so that, while responding to the pandemic, members do not have to implement, apply and enforce certain provisions of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement

The idea of TRIPS waiver proposal was that it would allow countries to ramp up the production of medical products, including vaccines, therapeutics and equipment required to treat Covid-19. (File photo)

opinion

Updated on May 10, 2021 06:32 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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In Afghanistan, India must embrace the role of peacemaker

The chances of a successful outcome to a peacemaking endgame are uncertain. Nevertheless, for India, turning away from Afghanistan is not an option

Successful peacemaking requires substantive engagement. India will have to reconcile to the new realities of such responsibilities (Shutterstock)

opinion

Published on Apr 01, 2021 07:51 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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The evolution of India’s Twitter diplomacy

In a multipolar world rife with concerns about terrorism, contentious trade disputes among allies and adversaries, catastrophic environmental degradation, health issues, human rights advocacy, the security implications of new technologies have made social media platforms an arena of inter-State contestation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vast appeal across so many social media platforms are tools that give unparalleled traction to India’s diplomatic outreach (PTI)

opinion

Updated on Feb 27, 2021 06:25 AM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Is ‘Global Britain’ inimical to India?

There are disturbing signals from both segments of British polity and civil society. India will need to assess the UK’s position carefully

A new report by Chatham House describes India as UK’s ‘rival’ or ‘at best, an awkward counterpart’ on par with Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It also weighs in against the idea of expanding G7 to include India (Getty Images)

analysis

Updated on Jan 20, 2021 09:10 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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Indian diplomacy’s climate test, writes Syed Akbaruddin

India has been an overachiever on Paris — but the road ahead is strewn with challenges

The world cannot solve the climate crisis without India’s active participation. We will need to seek an equitable outcome based on climate justice that also provides for financing and space for our transition(Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

analysis

Updated on Dec 16, 2020 09:28 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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For multilateralism, a change in climate, writes Syed Akbaruddin

Under Biden, the US will be more active on the multilateral track. This is good news for India

Throughout his campaign, Biden said that he will bring the US back into the Paris Agreement and reverse the intention of moving the US out of WHO. Global public goods in environment and health will be a key focus(REUTERS)

analysis

Updated on Nov 16, 2020 08:37 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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At the UN, the quest for new multilateralism

For India, the principal utility of the session is the opportunity to articulate the why, what, when and how of our conception of “Reformed Multilateralism” and work with others on reinvigorating multilateralism.

From an Indian perspective, this comes when Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, is displaying more of an internationalist orientation than our leaders have exhibited since the end of the Cold War.(ANI)

analysis

Updated on Sep 21, 2020 06:16 AM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

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UNSC: A diplomatic ‘two-front’ war

India warded off the China-Pakistan game on Kashmir. But don’t let the guard down

In a fast-evolving multipolar order, bilateral differences among the poles are best addressed appropriately(Reuters)

analysis

Updated on Aug 06, 2020 07:41 PM IST

BySyed Akbaruddin

Close Story

Syed Akbaruddin

The side events, of civil society and businesses engaging with leaders, take centre stage in a largely symbolic UNGA. However, its key role in consolidating attitudes on several global issues cannot be discarded

The Security Council’s objective was to stop a conflict by addressing its cause. But, for years now, it has taken on the subsidiary pursuit of being a humanitarian council. India needs to consider if this is the change it wants

UNSC’s failure to adopt the resolution enables the co-sponsors to float a similar resolution in the General Assembly.

The trappings of a sacrosanct ritual were all there. Before entering the Security Council chambers, European diplomats and the Ukrainian Representative stood with the Ukrainian flag in front of Pablo Picasso’s ‘Guernica’, a tapestry about the Spanish Civil War.

The Security Council is considering the Ukraine issue for the fourth time in less than four weeks

Exclusive: The Security Council was not conceived to be platform for great power conflict solutions. With great power competition now in play, the Council’s inadequacies are on display. The Ukraine resolution will be moved in the UNSC this evening

The recent P5 statement on nuclear disarmament is hollow and contradicts the policies of most UNSC members. From India’s perspective, the statement does nothing to allay concerns about China modernising its nuclear arsenal

WTO’s inability to set norms for a patent waiver; WHO’s inability to redress vaccine inequity; and rampant vaccine nationalism, have all contributed to the emergence of Omicron

If trade measures have gained visibility recently and investment rethinking is in its incipient stage, the climate-security nexus has been in the making for more than a decade

From environment to health, migration to digital tech, external affairs is intrinsically linked to internal affairs. Adjust thinking and systems accordingly

The upcoming Quad summit aside, PM Modi should use the UN speech on September 25 to reach out to smaller States and address their sensitivities

PM Narendra Modi presiding over a virtual SC debate — a first for any Indian PM — is a sign of a new, more assertive Indian willingness to contribute positively to global peace and security issues at the highest political level

Climate, health, digital tech, and geo-economics will define the global conversation. India must be proactive

There is a perception that Guterres’s first term lacked the fizz his election generated in 2016. Perhaps it was on account of the SG being in firefighting mode to keep US financial cuts at bay and ensuring damage limitation

Last year, on October 2, India paired with South Africa and submitted to the WTO a proposal for a waiver so that, while responding to the pandemic, members do not have to implement, apply and enforce certain provisions of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement

The chances of a successful outcome to a peacemaking endgame are uncertain. Nevertheless, for India, turning away from Afghanistan is not an option

There are disturbing signals from both segments of British polity and civil society. India will need to assess the UK’s position carefully

India has been an overachiever on Paris — but the road ahead is strewn with challenges

Under Biden, the US will be more active on the multilateral track. This is good news for India

For India, the principal utility of the session is the opportunity to articulate the why, what, when and how of our conception of “Reformed Multilateralism” and work with others on reinvigorating multilateralism.

India warded off the China-Pakistan game on Kashmir. But don’t let the guard down

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