Assured Guterres of India’s commitment to reformed 'multilateralism', 'revitalisation' of UN: Amb Harish

UNITED NATIONS: India’s new Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish assured the country’s commitment to reformed "multilateralism" and "revitalisation" of the UN as he presented his credentials to UN chief Antonio Guterres here.

“Deeply honoured to present my letter of credence to UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres. It is a matter of great pride and immense responsibility to represent India at the United Nations,” Harish said in a post on X and thanked Guterres for his friendship and support for India.

Harish, who arrived in New York last week to take charge as India’s envoy to the world body, presented his credentials to Guterres at the UN headquarters Monday during an official ceremony.

“You are extremely welcome. India is a fundamental pillar of the democratic system in the UN and cooperation between India and the UN is exemplary. We believe that in your presence it will become even stronger,” Guterres said as Harish presented his credentials to him.

Harish conveyed to the UN chief “greetings” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to which Guterres replied, “Please convey to them my very very warm regards.”

Harish was accompanied by his wife.

Following the presentation of his credentials, Harish and Guterres held discussions. “We agreed on the need to strengthen and reform multilateralism in both its political and economic dimensions to deal with contemporary challenges and harness new opportunities,” the Indian envoy wrote on X following his meeting.

He assured Guterres of India’s commitment under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership to “reformed multilateralism and revitalisation of the UN.”

During the day, Harish also met with the incoming President of the 79th session of the General Assembly Philemon Yang.

"Confident that his leadership of the General Assembly and his strong focus on capacity building, AI and digital future for all will benefit the growth agenda, especially for the global south,” Harish said in a post on X.

Soon after arriving in New York, Harish held bilateral meetings with several top UN leaders and his global counterparts.

Among the first UN leaders he met was the President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly Dennis Francis.

Following his meeting, Harish posted on X that he was “glad” to meet Francis “and benefitted from his insights on various issues of mutual interest. Appreciated the General Assembly’s support to India during his Presidency. A pleasure to listen to his experiences from his India visit,” a reference to Francis’s visit to India in January this year.

In an interview with PTI, Francis had said he was very pleased to receive Amb Harish and the two had “very expansive” and fulsome conversations and discussions.

“It’s clear that he has come with a lot energy and perspective,” Francis said adding that they discussed the current state of peace and security in the world, the outlook for the Summit of the Future, turbocharging the SDGs, digitalisation.

The role of technology in economic development and how that is being taken on board in the context of multilateral negotiations.

The two also discussed the situation in Gaza.

“We both agreed and hoped that solution could be found soon, a ceasefire, with the support of key regional players and other global partners to bring this difficult situation to an end,” Francis had said.

They also discussed Security Council reform, "but not in any detail, in the overall context of reforming of the global institutions in order to better position those with the power to make decisions that would have resonance across the world in the interest of everyone, not just a few,” Francis had said.

Harish also met UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the UN Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek, Permanent Representative of Bhutan to the UN Ambassador Pema Lektup Dorji, Portugal’s Ambassador Rui Vinhas and Japanese envoy Ambassador Yamazaki Kazuyuki.