President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday (February 6, 2025) emphasised the need for early and comprehensive reform of key multilateral bodies, including the United Nations Security Council, to make them reflective of contemporary global realities.
Welcoming Philemon Yang, the President of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), who had called on President Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, she said 2025 will see important UN conferences like the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development, and the Third UN Ocean Conference, among others.
Ms. Murmu assured Yang of India’s active and constructive participation in these platforms.
President Murmu emphasised the need for early and comprehensive reform of key multilateral bodies, including the UN Security Council, to make them reflective of contemporary global realities, according to an official statement.
Group of Four (G4) countries on reform
The Group of Four (G4) countries — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan — seeking permanent membership and reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in September, last year called for urgent reform of the world body. Other plurilateral groupings, such as the L69 and C-10 also echoed these calls.
In a joint statement released on September 26, 2024 External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his G4 counterparts noted the “significant challenges” to the multilateral system, centred around the UN, as they welcomed the urgent call for reform at the UN’s ‘Summit of the Future’, held earlier this week. The group highlighted the need for better representation for regions such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean in permanent and non-permanent categories.
India’s role on causes of the Global South
Ms. Murmu appreciated Yang’s emphasis on science and data-driven approach to sustainable development and his inclusive vision. She also commended his leadership in the adoption of the “Pact for the Future” at the Summit for the Future held in New York in September 2024.
She said that India will continue to champion the causes of the Global South, including at the UN, guided by the philosophy of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, according to the statement issued by the President’s office.
The two leaders also discussed the close and friendly bilateral relations between India and Cameroon, which have grown steadily over the years, especially in development partnership and capacity building, it said.
Mr. Yang is a Cameroonian politician.
Ms. Murmu said that India shares a special bond with Africa, and it was during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023 that the African Union was included in the grouping as a permanent member.
