UN chief seeks relevant role for India

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday said that it was impossible to build “a multipolar world” without “a very relevant role of India”.

“India is becoming a fundamental pillar of multilateralism. And, at the same time, as we want a multipolar world, it is impossible to build a multipolar world without a very relevant role of India,” said Guterres, after inaugurating the new UN House in New Delhi. “The success of India is largely a success for us all.”

Guterres arrived in New Delhi on Monday for a three-day visit.

He will pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat on Tuesday on the occasion of the commencement of the 150th birth anniversary of the “Father of the Nation”.

He will later join Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak at the concluding session of the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention.

“I want the UN to be united and to be able to work here to fully support India’s government development plans, to fully support India’s leadership in relations to climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals and so many other aspects in which today India is showing a leadership role in our planet,” he said, shortly after arriving in New Delhi on Monday.