In a first for an Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will on Monday chair a high-level UNSC open debate on maritime security. “The Open Debate will focus on ways to effectively counter maritime crime, and to strengthen coordination in the maritime domain for global peace and prosperity,” PM Modi tweeted on Sunday about the virtual event.

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“The UN Security Council has discussed and passed resolutions on different aspects of maritime security and maritime crime,” PMO said.  However, this will be the first time that maritime security will be discussed in a holistic manner as an exclusive agenda item in such a high level open debate, it added. The debate will be held via conferencing at 5:30 PM.

PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to preside over a UN Security Council Open Debate, which is expected to be attended by several heads of states. Russian President Vladimir Putin, US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo are among those expected to attend the debate.

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The Prime Minister’s office said that oceans have played an important part in India’s history right from the time of the Indus Valley civilisation, adding that based on the country’s civilisational ethos that see the seas as an enabler of shared peace and prosperity, Modi had put forward the vision of SAGAR – an acronym for “Security and Growth for all in the Region” in 2015.  This vision focuses on cooperative measures for sustainable use of the oceans, and provides a framework for a safe, secure, and stable maritime domain in the region.

The PM had last addressed the UN on september 26, 2020 on the 75th session of the UNGA. In his pre-recorded video statement in Hindi, PM Modi focused on the stability in the United Nations and empowerment of the world body.

He had brought up the issue of India, the world’s largest democracy, being kept out of the decision-making bodies of the United Nations. Reform of the United Nations is the need of the hour, he had said. “For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of the UN,” he asks.

His address had focused on the scourge of terrorism and on the COVID-19 pandemic. The PM had offered India’s help in developing and manufacturing COVID vaccines.