S Jaishankar meets UN's Antonio Guterres in New York; discuss COVID-19 related challenges

As India continues to reel under the unprecedented second wave of the pandemic, Union External Affair Dr S Jaishankar on Tuesday met UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York. Taking to his official Twitter handle, S Jaishankar informed that he and Guterres discussed the COVID-19 challenge and also underlined the importance of finding urgent and effective COVID vaccine solution. He also informed that ways to ramp up the vaccine supply chain were also discussed to ensure greater production and fairer distribution. 

It is important to note here that this was Jaishankar’s first visit to the UN in New York after India became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Jishankar meets UN Secretary-General António Guterres

As per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), views on climate action were also exchanged. While stating that greater resources are essential for larger ambitions, Jaishankar said that financing will determine India's seriousness and credibility. The Union Minister mentioned that during the meeting he had highlighted India's constructive role in UNSC and also conveyed priorities of the country's Presidency in August. "Maritime Security and Technology for Peacekeeping address the needs of the day and also welcomes SG's appreciation of India's Peacekeeping operations including at Goma, DRC recently," he added. 

Remarking that regional challenges in India's neighbourhood were also discussed, the Union External Affairs Minister said, "Shared our concerns about ensuring that the gains of the last two decades in Afghanistan are adequately protected." MEA also informed that the recent developments in Myanmar were also discussed. 

COVID-19 situation in India

India so far has recorded over 2,69,48,874 positive cases, out of which, 2,40,54,861 have successfully recovered and 3,07,231 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 1,96,427 new cases,  3,26,850 fresh recoveries and 3,511 deaths have been reported. currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 25,86,782. Meanwhile, 19,64,42,579 doses of the COVID vaccine has been administered in India. 

(Image: Twitter- @DrSJaishankar, Pixabay)