India US for more power to UN to effectively address global development, security challenges

Washington D.C.: Holding discussions on a wide range issues during a bilateral meeting here, India and the United States on Tuesday called for augmenting the capacity of the United Nations, so that it can effectively address global development and security challenges.

In a joint statement issued after the third major bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama, the two leaders reaffirmed their support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member.

With the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, and recognizing its universality, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to implement this ambitious agenda domestically and internationally and work in a collaborative partnership for the effective achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

Both sides committed to ensure that the Security Council continues to play an effective role in maintaining international peace and security as envisioned in the UN Charter. The leaders are committed to continued engagement on Security Council reform in the UN Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council Reform.

They welcomed the successful convening of the Leaders' Summit on UN Peacekeeping and committed to deepening engagement on UN peacekeeping capacity-building efforts in third countries, through co-organizing the first UN Peacekeeping Course for African Partners in New Delhi later this year for participants from ten countries in Africa.

Both the leaders also reiterated their support for ongoing reform efforts to strengthen UN peacekeeping operations.

Building on their respective bilateral engagements with Africa, such as the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and India-Africa Forum Summit, the leaders reflected that the United States and India share a common interest in working with partners in Africa to promote prosperity and security across the continent.

They welcomed trilateral cooperation with African partners, including in areas such as agriculture, health, energy, women's empowerment and sanitation under the Statement of Guiding Principles on Triangular Cooperation for Global Development. They looked forward to opportunities to deepen the U.S. - India global develop pment cooperation in Africa, as well as in Asia and beyond.