UN like old company, not keeping up with market but occupying space: Jaishankar

Jaishankar stated, “The United Nations is like an old company, not entirely keeping up with the market, but occupying the space.”

#WATCH | Delhi: At Kautilya Economic Conclave, EAM Dr S Jaishankar says “The United Nations is like an old company, not entirely keeping up with the market, but occupying the space…What you have today is, yes, there is a UN. At the end of the day, however suboptimal it is in… pic.twitter.com/AFFTf9ScHo

— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2024

He was taking part in the interactive session on ‘India and the Globe’ and spoke about India’s role in the dynamic global world order.

Detailing about the United Nations significance, he said, “What you have today is, yes, there is a UN. At the end of the day, however suboptimal it is in functioning, it is still the only multilateral game in town. But when it doesn’t step up on key issues, countries figure out their own ways of doing it.”

Minister Jaishankar also questioned the role played by the United Nations during 21st Century’s most significant medical emergency, COVID-19 and said, “Think about what the UN did on Covid. I think the answer is not very much.”

Jaishankar was asked about his upcoming visit to Pakistan to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and he said that he isn’t going to have any bilateral meetings with his Pakistani counterpart during the visit.

“I am going there for a certain job, a certain responsibility. And, I take my responsibilities seriously. So, I am going there to represent India at the SCO meeting, and that is what I am going to do,” Jaishankar said.

The government of India announced on Friday that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will travel to Islamabad to attend the Heads of Government (HoG) meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on October 15 and 16.