“India Does Not Need To Be Told What To Do On Democracy,” Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj 

India does not need to be told what to do on democracy, the country’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj has asserted. India has assumed Presidency of the 15-nation UN Security Council for the month of December, during which it will host signature events on countering terrorism and reformed multilateralism. The Presidency will bring the curtains down on India’s two-year tenure as elected non-permanent member of the powerful UN organ. 

Kamboj, India’s first woman Permanent Representative to the UN, will sit in the President’s seat at the horse-shoe table. On the first day of India’s presidency, she addressed reporters in the UN headquarters on the monthly program of work.

Responding to a question on democracy and freedom of press in India, she said “We don’t need to be told what to do on democracy.” And, she added that “India is perhaps the most ancient civilization in the world as all of you know. In India, democracy had roots going back to 2500 years, we were always a democracy. Coming down to very recent times, we have all the pillars of democracy that are intact – legislature, executive, judiciary and the fourth estate, the press. And a very vibrant social media. So the country is the world’s largest democracy.” 

“Every five years we conduct the world’s largest democratic exercise. Everyone is free to say as they wish and please and that is how our country functions. It’s rapidly reforming, transforming and changing. And the trajectory has been very impressive. And I don’t have to say this, you don’t have to listen to me. Others are saying this,” Kamboj said.

and contribute positively to the global agenda, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj has said.

India is ready to take its place at the global top table as a country that is willing to bring solutions India on Thursday assumed the monthly rotating Presidency of the Security Council, the second time after August 2021 that India is presiding over the 15-member Council during its two-year tenure as an elected UNSC member.

India’s 2021-2022 term on the Council ends December 31. In the past two years, as the world went through various crises, “India has always been there as a solution provider”, Kamboj told reporters. India is speaking to both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Kamboj said, asserting that New Delhi’s position has not been “passive” on the war.

To a question on whether the UNSC reform is moving forward, Kamboj said, “I wish I could say yes, yes and yes, but I will definitely say that this is one of the most complex processes in the UN system. But there is a ray of hope.” She pointed out that during the high-level 77th session of the General Assembly, 76 countries favoured UNSC reforms and 73 spoke for UN reforms.

India, Brazil, Germany and Japan – members of the G4 grouping – have been at the forefront of efforts calling for urgent reform of the Security Council, which has remained deeply divisive in dealing with current challenges.