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Asoke Kumar Mukerji | |
---|---|
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations | |
In office April 2013 –December 2015 | |
Preceded by | Hardeep Singh Puri |
Succeeded by | Syed Akbaruddin [1] |
Special Secretary (Political matters) in Ministry of External Affairs at New Delhi | |
In office February 2012 –March 2013 | |
Additional Secretary (Foreign policy planning &review) in Ministry of External Affairs at New Delhi | |
In office 2010–2012 | |
Deputy High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom | |
In office 2007–2010 | |
Preceded by | Ranjan Mathai |
Succeeded by | Rajesh N Prasad |
Personal details | |
Born | December 1955 (age 68) Kolkata,India |
Occupation | Diplomat (IFS) |
Asoke Kumar Mukerji (born December 1955) is a former Indian diplomat and writer,who teaches diplomacy at the Diplo Foundation. [2] He was a Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations from April 2013 to December 2015. [3] [4]
Mukerji was educated at North Point School,Darjeeling and St. Stephen's College,Delhi. [3]
Mukerji qualified for the Indian Foreign Service,which he joined in July 1978.
His early diplomatic career took him to Belgrade and Washington DC. He became Consul General of India in Soviet Central Asia in June 1990,and helped transform India's relations with the five newly independent countries of Uzbekistan,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan and Turkmenistan during the momentous period of transition following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. From March 1992 to December 1992,he was India's first Charge d'affaires in Uzbekistan,Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. [3] Mukerji is actively interested in Central Asian affairs. In July 2012,he articulated a forward-looking view on interaction with Central Asia in an address at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.
Mukerji worked as a trade negotiator in the newly formed World Trade Organization between 1995 and 1998. He was among the first Indian officials tasked with representing India in trade disputes involving India brought before the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body in its meeting on 21 October 1998 recognized his "knowledge of the WTO issues was unsurpassed" while approving his inclusion in the Indicative List of Panelists for Dispute Settlement. [5] Mukerji's article "Developing Countries and the WTO:Issues of Implementation" published in 2000 [6] has been widely used in the context of the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations.
He is credited with the formation of the first private-public partnership Indian Community Welfare Committee in the United Arab Emirates during his assignment as Consul General of India in Dubai (1998-2001). [7] This platform,under the patronage of the Government of India,brought together stakeholders from the private sector,public undertakings,and individual civil society representatives,including women social workers,to deal with issues facing Indian nationals in distress.
Mukerji was India's Deputy Ambassador to the Russian Federation between 2001 and 2005. He was responsible for the implementation of projects inducting modern defence systems into the three wings of India's armed forces during his assignment,including the T-90 main battle tank, [8] and the Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
As India's Ambassador to Kazakhstan (2005-2007),Mukerji negotiated the acquisition of India's first Caspian Sea oilfield stake (Satpayev) in 2005 by the Indian Government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. [9]
Between 2007 and 2010,Mukerji was India's Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in London,which is India's oldest and largest diplomatic mission. [3]
Mukerji was responsible for India's foreign policy planning and review,participation in international organizations,border management,and cyber issues as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2010 to 2012. He headed the Government of India's multi-agency counter terrorism working groups with foreign countries,including with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council,and co-chaired the India-EU Security Dialogue. [3] He led Indian delegations for dialogues on cyber issues with the United States,United Kingdom, [10] Russia and Japan [11] between 2011 and 2012.
He was Chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Steering Committee that established the South Asia Forum, [12] tasked with implementing a South Asian Economic Union by the SAARC Summit in Maldives in 2011. He has worked closely with Indian and international think-tanks on foreign policy issues related to major transitions in India's immediate neighbourhood. [3]
Mukerji spearheaded India's campaign in the United Nations General Assembly mandated Inter-Governmental Negotiations for expanding and reforming the United Nations Security Council,catalyzing the consensus United Nations General Assembly Decision 69/560 of 14 September 2015 adopting a text-based negotiation process after 23 years of discussions. [13] [14] [15] [16]
He projected the interests of India as a major troop-contributing country to United Nations peacekeeping operations. [17] [18] [19] During United Nations negotiations on Agenda 2030,Mukerji advocated strongly for the greater use of technology,especially information and communication technology,to accelerate development. [20] [21] [22] [23] The outcome of the United Nations process on Financing for Development reflected the acceptance of this proposal by the establishment of a Technology Facilitation Mechanism. [24]
The Review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) by the United Nations General Assembly endorsed accelerating the use of ICTs for development,including bridging the digital divides. [25]
During a review in the United Nations on the future role of UN peacekeeping,Mukerji raised greater awareness of the need to recognize the value and role of troops sent by UN member states for peacekeeping operations.
In July 2014,the United Nations agreed,after protracted negotiations which had dragged on for almost ten years,to increase the monthly reimbursements to troops deployed on United Nations peacekeeping operations through a survey mechanism of troop contributing countries. Consequently,the rate reimbursed for each soldier deployed for UN peacekeeping rose from US$1028 per month to US$1332 per month,and would rise up to US$1410 per month by 2017. [26]
India became the first UN troop contributing country to create a Virtual Wall in honor of her fallen UN peacekeepers,which was launched by Mukerji at the United Nations on 29 May 2015. [27]
The proposal by India for the establishment of a Memorial Wall at the United Nations Headquarters to honor the more than 3,300 soldiers who have laid down their lives during UN peacekeeping operations was recommended by the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations in its report A/69/19 (Para 19),and adopted by the UN General Assembly in June 2015.
Participating in the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping on 28 September 2015,Prime Minister Modi called for this memorial wall to be created quickly,affirming India's readiness to contribute,including financially,towards this objective. [28]
Mukerji crafted a successful campaign in the United Nations General Assembly to have a Resolution adopted by consensus to declare 21 June of every year as the International Day of Yoga,implementing a proposal made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September 2014. [29] The Resolution moved by India attracted a record number of 177 co-sponsoring countries,and was tabled,negotiated and adopted between 27 September 2014 and 11 December 2014,making it one of the fastest initiatives of its kind to be implemented in the United Nations General Assembly. [30] The United Nations commemoration of the First International day of Yoga was held outdoors on 21 June 2015 with the active participation of the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon,and beamed live for the thousands of yoga practitioners gathered at the iconic Times Square in the heart of Manhattan,symbolically linking the activities of the United Nations with the wider world. [31]
His contributions to the work of the United Nations during his assignment were positively assessed,especially by his peers. [32]
Mukerji has been a public speaker at the Universities of Cambridge, [33] Oxford,Harvard, [34] Columbia, [35] Princeton, [36] Rochester, [37] Dartmouth College, [38] at the London Conference on Cyberspace [39] and at the public commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in San Francisco. [40]
Mukerji is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies,London,the United Service Institution (USI),India and the Vivekananda International Foundation,New Delhi. He is also a mentor to the Centre for Strategic and Foreign Relations at Vision India Foundation. [41]
Asoke Kumar Mukerji has published eight books. [3]
Foreign relations of Kazakhstan are primarily based on economic and political security consideration. The Nazarbayev administration has tried to balance relations with Russia and the United States by sending petroleum and natural gas to its northern neighbor at artificially low prices while assisting the U.S. in the War on Terror. Kazakhstan is a member of the United Nations, Collective Security Treaty Organization, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, North Atlantic Cooperation Council, Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and NATO's Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan established a customs union with Russia and Belarus which eventually became the Eurasian Economic Union. President Nazarbayev has prioritized economic diplomacy into Kazakhstan's foreign policy.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states.
Peacekeeping comprises activities, especially military ones, intended to create conditions that favor lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, is a UN peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon which Israel had invaded five days prior, in order to ensure that the government of Lebanon would restore its effective authority in the area. The 1978 South Lebanon conflict came in the context of Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon and the Lebanese Civil War.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en République démocratique du Congo, is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo conflict. The mission was known as the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo or MONUC, an acronym of its French name Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo, until 2010.
The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was a military and peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the Suez Crisis of 1956 through the establishment of international peacekeepers on the border between Egypt and Israel. Approved by resolution 1001 (ES-I) of 7 November 1956, UNEF was developed in large measure as a result of efforts by UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and a proposal from Canadian Minister of External Affairs Lester B. Pearson, who would later win the Nobel Peace Prize for it. The General Assembly had approved a plan submitted by the Secretary-General which envisaged the deployment of UNEF on both sides of the armistice line; Egypt accepted receiving the UN forces, but Israel refused it. In May 1967, Egypt asked that UNEF leave Egypt; as the troops started to evacuate over the next days, Israel invaded Egypt on 6 June 1967, initiating the Six-Day War and causing the death of one Brazilian Sergeant and 14 Indian peacekeepers – 17 other members of UNEF were also injured. The last member of UNEF left Egypt on 17 June.
The United Nations Operation in the Congo was a United Nations peacekeeping force which was deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to the Congo Crisis. The ONUC was the UN's first peacekeeping mission with significant military capability, and remains one of the largest UN operations in size and scope.
The Bangladesh Armed Forces and the Bangladesh Police have been actively involved in a number of United Nations Peace Support Operations (UNPSO) since 1988. Currently Bangladesh is the largest contributor in the UN peacekeeping missions.
Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the UN's Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished from peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are "mutually reinforcing" and that overlap between them is frequent in practice.
Ruchira Kamboj is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1987 batch, who last served as India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2022 to May 2024 until her retirement. She has previously served as High Commissioner of India to South Africa, first female Indian Ambassador to Bhutan and Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Paris.
India was among the charter members of the United Nations that signed the Declaration by United Nations at Washington, D.C., on 1 January 1942 and also participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As a founding member of the United Nations, India strongly supports the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant contributions in implementing the goals of the Charter, and the evolution of the UN's specialised programmes and agencies.
Pakistan officially joined the United Nations (UN) on 30 September 1947 just over a month after it came into existence. Today, it is a charter member and participates in all of the UN's specialised agencies and organisations. Pakistan has been elected seven times into the UN Security Council, with the most recent term in 2013. It is also one of the countries which has had a diplomat, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan, serve a term as the President of the United Nations General Assembly.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission for South Sudan, which became independent on 9 July 2011. UNMISS was established on 8 July 2011 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1996 (2011).
So far India has taken part in 49 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 200,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel having been deployed and more than 160 Indian peacekeepers have died serving under the UN flag as of September 2022. In 2014 India is the third largest troop contributor country [TCC] with 7,860 personnel deployed with ten UN Peacekeeping Missions of which 995 are police personnel, including the first Female Formed Police Unit under the UN. Recently Indian Peacekeepers were lauded by the UN for their efforts in preventing a carnage in the South Sudan conflict which resulted in the death of two of its soldiers.
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The permanent representative of India to the United Nations is India's foremost diplomatic representative to the United Nations. The permanent representative is the head of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York City.
Malaysia became the 82nd member of the United Nations on 17 September 1957. Malaysia has held a rotational non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for four terms, and has participated in over 30 United Nations peacekeeping missions since October 1960.
Syed Akbaruddin is a retired Indian diplomat from 1985 batch of the Indian Foreign Service and served as India's permanent representative at the United Nations at New York from January 2016 to April 2020. He had previously served as official spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs from January 2012 to April 2015 and was Indian representative at IAEA from 2006 to 2011. He is currently serving as the dean of Kautilya School of Public Policy.
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