Russia, contesting elections to 4 UN committees, loses all
United Nations (PTI): Russia, contesting elections to four UN committees, lost all of them, including one to Ukraine, a verdict being seen as Moscow's isolation on the global stage.
Elections were held in the United Nations Economic and Social Council on Wednesday to fill various vacancies in subsidiary and related bodies.
Russia was contesting elections to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations, UN Women Executive Board, UNICEF Executive Board and Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Russia competed in 4 elections to @UN committees today. It lost in all of them. The UN membership is isolating Russia and stands with Ukraine, the United Kingdom Mission to the UN tweeted.
The European Union Delegation at the United Nations in New York said that results of today's #ECOSOC elections show that Russia's aggression has disqualified them from serving in key bodies of the UN.
We congratulate those newly elected members of the #ECOSOC subsidiary bodies who commit to the values of the UN, it said.
UK diplomat James Roscoe tweeted Humiliation for @RussiaUN & further isolation at @UN today. They lost 4 elections to key UN bodies. A rejection of @mfa_russia war in Ukraine and sign of its growing pariah status. Ukrainians are paying highest price for illegal war but damage to Russia isn't limited to its army.
In the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations, Russia lost after having got only 15 votes out of 54 ballots, 16 votes out of 54 in the UN Women Executive Board polls, 17 votes out of 54 in the UNICEF Executive Board and 18 votes out of 52 ballots cast in election to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, where it was defeated by Ukraine, which got 34 votes.
India was elected to four bodies of the UN Economic and Social Council.
India gets elected to 4 @UN ECOSOC Bodies: Commission for Social Development, Committee on NGOs, Commission on Science & Technology for Development and Ambassador Preeti Saran gets re-elected to Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, India's Permanent Mission to the UN tweeted Wednesday.
For the Commission for Social Development, Austria, Bangladesh, Burundi, Colombia, Egypt, Ghana, Haiti, India, Peru, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and Ukraine were elected by acclamation for a four-year term of office beginning at the first meeting of the commission's 62nd session in 2023 and expiring at the close of the commission's sixty-fifth session in 2027.
For the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, Algeria, Belize, Botswana, China, Colombia, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Hungary, Latvia, Oman, Romania, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United Republic of Tanzania, the United States of America, and Uzbekistan were elected by acclamation for a four-year term of office beginning on January 1, 2023.
For the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, Algeria, Bahrain, Cameroon, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Israel, Liberia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Zimbabwe elected by acclamation for a four-year term of office beginning on January 1 2023. Armenia and Georgia were elected by secret ballot.
Aslan Abashidze of the Russian Federation, Ludovic Hennebel of Belgium, Joo-Young Lee of the Republic of Korea, Santiago Manuel Fiorio Vaesken of Paraguay, Karla Vanessa Lemus de V squez of El Salvador, Julieta Rossi of Argentina, and Preeti Saran of India were elected by acclamation for the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for a four-year term of office beginning on January 1, 2023.
However, the United Kingdom dissociated from the consensus acclamation of Russia's Abashidze to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
He said members in this Committee should have a recognized competence in human rights, adding that Russia's aggression against Ukraine impacts the rights of its citizens.
Similarly, the United States also dissociated from Abashidze's election, noting that Abashidze has defended the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which it said is inconsistent with the right to self-determination of all people.
The representatives of France and Canada, also speaking for New Zealand, expressed similar reservations, stressing that members of the Board must have a high moral standing, according to a UN press release.
In response, Russia said that elections to the subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council must be conducted in accordance with the standard rights and procedures.
Any State entitled to take part in the meetings of the Council has the right to be elected, he added, rejecting all politicized attacks against his country, the UN press release added.
In December 2018, Saran, a senior Indian diplomat had been elected unopposed to the Asia Pacific seat on the UN's Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).
Saran's first four-year term began on January 1, 2019. She had joined the Indian Foreign Service in August 1982. She has served in Indian missions at Moscow, Dhaka, Cairo, Geneva, Toronto and Vietnam and was the Consul General of India in Toronto and the Indian Ambassador to Vietnam.
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EAM Jaishankar meets Jamaican PM, gifts over 10 BHISHM Cubes
Kingston (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and discussed ways to further deepen "political, economic and people-to-people cooperation."
Jaishankar also conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Holness.
"Pleased to call on Prime Minister @AndrewHolnessJM in Kingston. Conveyed the greetings of PM @narendramodi," Jaishankar posted on X.
"Discussed deepening our political, economic and people-to-people cooperation. Value his commitment towards further strengthening India-Jamaica relations," the post further read.
Also, the external affairs minister handed over 10 BHISHM (Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri) Cubes as a gift to Jamaica.
"Formally handed over 10 BHISHM Cubes as a gift from India to Jamaica, in the presence of PM @AndrewHolnessJM, Health Minister @christufton and FM @kaminajsmith," Jaishankar posted on X.
"The BHISHM Cube mobile hospital system, designed for rapid deployment, will help Jamaica during disasters and emergencies. The gift of these cubes is a statement of friendship, a commitment to disaster preparedness, and an outcome of innovation," the post said.
Jaishankar arrived in Kingston on Saturday evening, marking the first leg of his nine-day tour of Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago, aimed at further strengthening India's strategic and cultural ties with the Caribbean nations.
Earlier in the day, he interacted with the Indian diaspora and discussed India's ongoing transformation in infrastructure, human development and technology-driven governance and entrepreneurship with them.
He also highlighted the cricket bond between both countries as India gifted a scoreboard to Jamaica.
A scoreboard was dedicated at Sabina Park in Kingston. It is the home of the Jamaica cricket team and is the only Test cricket ground in the Caribbean island nation.
The minister expressed hope that the new scoreboard would witness many memorable innings, including those symbolising the enduring friendship between the two countries.
Cricket has long been a strong cultural bridge between India and Jamaica, which is part of the West Indies cricket team.
Jamaican players, including Chris Gayle, Courtney Walsh and Michael Holding, have played a major role in shaping the legacy of West Indies cricket in the international arena, contributing to its dominance in earlier decades and its continued global appeal.
