In a message to China at UN, Indian Envoy says countries should 'respect' territorial integrity, pacts

New Delhi: In a clear message to China at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India on Monday (August 22, 2022) called on countries to "respect" territorial integrity and various pacts that have been signed. While speaking at the UNSC briefing on the maintenance of International peace and security, India's Permanent Representative to United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that the underlying principles behind common security are premised upon respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Member States and that "any coercive or unilateral action" that seeks to change the status quo by force is an "affront to common security". 

Ties between India and China have nosedived after the 2020 Galwan valley aggression by the Chinese military in eastern Ladakh. 

China has been indulging in military action at the Line of Actual Control in the past, including the 2017 Doklam incident in which it tried to build a road on Bhutanese territory.

"Common security is also possible only if countries respect agreements signed with others, bilateral or multilateral, and do not take unilateral measures to nullify those very arrangements to those they were party to," Ruchira Kamboj, who assumed charge as India's first woman Permanent Representative to the UN this month, pointed out.

During the current Indo-China crisis, New Delhi has several times highlighted that Beijing is not respecting the 1996 and 1993 border pacts, that called for not amassing troops at the border. 

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The Indian envoy also slammed Pakistan as well on the issue of terrorism mentioning that "common security is also only feasible when all countries stand together against common threats such as terrorism and do not engage in double standards while preaching otherwise." 

A substantial focus of the speech of the Indian envoy was on the reforms of the UNSC. 

"A truly representative Security Council is the most pressing need of the hour warning that there is a real danger of the United Nations being superseded by other plurilateral and multilateral groupings which are more representative, more transparent and more democratic and, therefore, more effective," she said. 

#IndiainUNSC

Ambassador @RuchiraKamboj, Permanent Representative speaks at the #UNSC Briefing on Maintenance of international peace and security: Promote common security through dialogue and cooperation@MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/iMl8GCJji5 — India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) August 22, 2022

UN and its key body UNSC are seen as dysfunctional amid the rise of other groupings like the G20, BRICS and SCO. 

"In my country, which now represents more than 1/6th of humanity, we believe that until we “reform, perform and transform” multilateral governance structures, we would be continuing to found wanting," she stated. 

Kamboj also batted for African presence at a reformed UNSC, saying "how can we aspire for common security in Africa when the body denies them representation on a permanent basis."