After the successful presidency of G20, the Indian external affairs minister S. Jaishankar spoke at the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He addressed the assembly on various global issues, primarily related to the ongoing diplomatic conflict between India and Canada and the permanent seat for India in the Security Council. 

Jaishankar greeted the assembly, Namaste from Bharat! He started his speech by saying “The days are over when few of the members set the agenda to discuss and G20 is the biggest example of this.”  

A fair, just and democratic order will surely emerge if we all think about it, and for starters, that means making sure the rule-makers don’t overrule the rule-takers. Everyone must respect territorial integrity and not interfere in the internal matters of others until they are related to humanitarian issues. Mr Jaishankar was speaking at the end of a week of national speeches, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to be at the centre of speeches by Western leaders. However, another issue emerged last week when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made an explosive claim that the Indian government was involved in the assassination of a Khalistan separatist leader in Canada in June this year.

Adding to this Mr Jaishankar said, “the time has arrived when the UN must think about the reconciliation of the seats for permanent members of the security council, inclusion of the African Union in G20, should be an inspiration for the UNGA.” Bharat has evolved as the friend of the world from the times of the Non-Alignment Movement, our role as Vishwa Mitra describes our ability to engage with the global world which is shown in the growth of QUAD.  

The speech may rekindle rumours that the central government is considering replacing the word India in the Constitution with the word Bharat, which sparked a huge controversy earlier this month. Addressing the UN General Assembly session from the iconic green podium, S Jaishankar began his over 17-minute speech with folded hands and ‘Namaste Bharat’.