India reiterates support for revitalising UN General Assembly

"India has consistently held the view that the General Assembly can be revitalised only when its position as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations is respected both in letter and in spirit," said India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri.

The General Assembly should take the lead in setting the global agenda and restoring the centrality of the United Nations in formulating multilateral approaches to resolving transnational issues, he said at a meeting of the ad hoc working group on the revitalisation of the General Assembly Wednesday.

This was the role intended for the Assembly in Article 10 of the UN Charter, namely that it discuss any questions or matters within the scope of the present Charter or relating to the powers and functions of any organs provided for in the Charter, Puri said.

India, he said, attaches importance to the on-going processes of revitalisation of the General Assembly, including the various aspects of strengthening of its procedures, working methods, documentation and also ensuring due follow up.

At the same time, issues relating to the improvement of the working methods of the Security Council were also a subject of discussion between the ten elected and five permanent members of the council, he said speaking as a current member of the  Council and also as a member of the Non-Aligned Group, Puri said.