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  • India's ICJ Win: Triumph of Multilateral Realpolitik?

    The re-election of Justice Dalveer Bhandari to the ICJ is an endorsement of the multilateral diplomacy based on realpolitik that India has been practicing in recent years.

    December 06, 2017

    Possible Outcomes after the US Exit from the Paris Climate Agreement

    China may emerge as the sole leader of global climate negotiations by supporting the Green Climate Fund, which faces a budget crisis with the US exit. This will also provide an opportunity for China to reshape its current global image.

    June 06, 2017

    Rahul Raj Mishra asked: What can India and Indian actors do to strengthen the system of collective security based on the United Nations Charter?

    Arpita Anant replies: First, a point of clarification. In the realm of security, the United Nations (UN) continues to retain a predominantly inter-governmental character, thus giving more space for states to act and in some instances even influence certain matters. India and those representing it, therefore, too have some space and opportunity to influence the working of the Charter system. However, Indians in the UN system/bureaucracy and those who are members of the UN panels must be treated separately.

    Brexit: Harbinger of an Unexpected New World Order

    The stunning British vote of June 24, 2016, to quit the European Union (EU)—dubbed Brexit—has triggered a major realignment of economic and political forces across the globe, strengthening the template of a new world order tilted towards Moscow, Beijing and the rising powers of Asia and Africa. As Washington nervously recognizes, there will be a decline in the influence of the US, EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the latter two having served as instruments of US global domination.

    January 2017

    2017 Conference to Outlaw Nuclear Weapons: Time Ripe for a Stand-Alone Disarmament Instrument?

    The First Committee vote is a culmination of a long-drawn campaign and marks a dramatic shift in the affairs of the non-proliferation regime.

    November 04, 2016

    India’s UNSC Bid: Is it different this time?

    A careful reading of the report of the deliberations of the UNGA on November 7, 2016 would suggest that nothing has changed at the ground level; only the rhetoric of member states has been amplified.

    December 08, 2016

    Can Stronger Regional Partnerships Help The UN Promote Global Stability

    Though no one questions the promise of regional partnerships, there are many impediments in practically achieving it as is evident from past partnership missions of the UN.

    November 04, 2016

    Bhumish Khudkhudia asked: How significant is the UN General Assembly’s decision to choose the path of text-based negotiation for carrying out Security Council reforms? What was the rationale behind the US and Russia not contributing to the text?

    Arpita Anant replies: The decision of the UN General Assembly to adopt text-based negotiations on the “question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters” is significant because it has established that a majority of the nations agree on the principle of reform. Also, it has helped clarify the positions of particular nations and/or groups of nations on this important subject.

    UNSCR 1540: A decade of existence

    The success of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 should not make the international community overlook persisting problems. The objective of the 1540 is to internationalise WMD security by targeting the entire supply chain.

    April 28, 2014

    Kinshuk Jain asked: What was India's role in the Geneva II Conference?

    Gulshan Dietl replies: The Geneva II was a UN-backed conference for ending the civil war in Syria by bringing the Syrian Government and the opposition together. It was held on January 22, 2014 in Montreux followed by the one in Geneva on January 22-23.

    India responded to the international appeal for humanitarian assistance by supplying essential food items, pledging $2 million to the United Nations Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (UN-SHARP) and offered technical expertise as also $1 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the destruction of chemical stockpiles and related facilities in Syria. On the broader political issues, India refrained from taking sides in the Syrian civil war. Thus, it abstained on a UN Security Council resolution that condemned the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on the protesters as the resolution did not condemn similar violence by the opposition. It also abstained on the UN General Assembly resolution that called for President Bashar al-Assad to step down. It voted for a UN Security Council resolution only after the issues of regime change, military intervention and sanctions were deleted from the text.

    India was invited to the Geneva II along with roughly forty other countries. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid led the Indian delegation. He expressed concern that the situation in Syria had sharply intensified the sectarian fault-lines across the region and that all shades of religious extremism had infiltrated into Syria from all over the world. He reiterated India’s stand that there can be no military solution to the conflict and no society can be re-ordered from outside. He extended support for an all-inclusive Syrian-led peace process and offered to assist in the implementation of the Geneva II resolutions.

    Posted on March 28, 2014

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