Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin present credentials to UN Secy Gen Ban Ki-Moon

By Deepak Arora

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 25:

Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, presented his credentials on Monday to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Receiving his credentials, the UN Secretary General welcomed his appointment as the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and appreciated the significant role that India plays at the United Nations as a long trusted partner of the multilateral system.

Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin reiterated India's strong commitment to the United Nations and assured him of his fullest support in helping the UN achieve its ideals and fulfilling the the priorities the UN Secretary General had set out at for the year 2016 including that of Agenda 2030 and the quest for peaceful political solutions for all the problems.

Prior to his appointment in New York, Ambassador Akbaruddin was the Chief Coordinator of the India-Africa Forum Summit a milestone event with participation of all 54 African States and held in October 2015 in New Delhi.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1985 and has represented India's interests in various capacities, promoting friendly ties across the globe.

Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin is India's 21st Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York and succeeds Ambassador Asoke Mukerji who demitted office on December 31 last year.

Ban ki-Moon offers support for resumption of Indo-Pak talks

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 16: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the resumption of India-Pakistan diplomacy and offered his support for holding talks.

Asked by a reporter Friday about the on-again, off-again interactions between the two South Asian neighbours, Ban’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, “Advice of the secretary general would always be for ‘on’ in order to support the talks.”

“Obviously, there are circumstances that are involved,” Dujarric said, “but he has been supportive of the dialogue between the leaders of Pakistan and India to resolve the outstanding issues.”

Talks between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were scheduled to take place Friday, but were put off to “the very near future,” according to Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Foreign secretaries S. Jaishankar of India and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry of Pakistan spoke by phone Thursday about resecheduling the talks.

The talks, planned after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reset diplomacy following meetings with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Paris and in Lahore, hung in the balance after a terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot on January 2.

On Wednesday, Pakistan announced a crackdown on Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation suspected of being behind the attack.