India a fundamental pillar of democratic system in UN, says Antonio Guterres as new Indian envoy presents credentials

By R Anil Kumar

• India Committed to Revitalisation of UN: Ambassador Harish to Antonio Guterres

• Harish, India’s new Permanent Representative to the UN, presented his credentials to the UN Secretary-General at the UN headquarters

• Parvathaneni Harish assured Antonio Guterres of India’s commitment under PM Modi’s “leadership to reformed multilateralism and revitalisation of the UN”

United Nations, New York, September 12. UN chief Antonio Guterres said that India is a fundamental pillar of the democratic system in the UN and cooperation between the two sides is exemplary, as he welcomed India’s new envoy Parvathaneni Harish to the world body.

Harish, India’s new Permanent Representative to the UN, presented his credentials to the UN Secretary-General at the UN headquarters here.

You are extremely welcome. India is a fundamental pillar of democratic system in the UN, and cooperation between India and the UN is exemplary. We believe that in your presence it will become even stronger,” Guterres told Harish.

Harish conveyed to the UN chief that he brings “greetings” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to him to which Guterres replied, “Please convey to them my very very warm regards.”

Assuring Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of India’s commitment to revitalising the global organisation, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish presented his credentials to take over as the Permanent Representative.

Harish arrived in New York last week to take charge as India’s envoy to the world body. He hit the ground running and held bilateral meetings with several top UN leaders and his global counterparts. Among the first UN leaders he met was the President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis.

Ambassador Harish made his presence felt by making the case before the Security Council soon after the ceremony on for major troop-contributing countries to be actively involved in the decision-making process of peacekeeping operations.

Earlier, prepping for the assignment ahead which takes off with the summit starting on September 22 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation, he had made a round of consultations with several diplomats on cooperating on issues that India shared with their countries.

In posts on X after presenting his credentials, Mr Harish wrote that he and Mr Guterres “agreed on the need to strengthen and reform multilateralism in both its political and economic dimensions to deal with contemporary challenges and harness new opportunities”.

He added that he assured the UN chief of India’s commitment under PM Narendra Modi’s “leadership to reformed multilateralism and revitalisation of the UN”.

Mr Harish met with Philemon Yang, who will become the president of the General Assembly this month. He assured the former prime minister of Cameroon of India’s support in his new role.

Coming from his latest assignment as the ambassador to Germany, Mr Harish brings 34 years of diplomatic experience having represented India from Southeast Asia through the Middle East and Europe to the US.

He has special expertise in the issue currently consuming the UN, Gaza, as he served as India’s representative to the Palestine Authority based in Gaza City and had also been deputed to work for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine.

His assignments also included ambassador to Vietnam and postings in Houston, Riyadh, and Cairo, where he studied Arabic.

Mr Harish started at the UN on Thursday, September 5, with a floral tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue at the UN campus.

He followed that with meetings with General Assembly President Dennis Francis and Amandeep Singh Gill, the secretary-general’s envoy on technology.

Francis posted on X that he was “grateful for India’s continued support throughout my presidency”.

India’s mission said the Indian Envoy also discussed “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” with Yamazaki Kazuyuki, the permanent representative of Japan, a member of G4, the group that advocates for expanding the Security Council’s permanent membership.

He met Sergio Franca, the permanent representative of another G4 member, Brazil, which took over the presidency of the G20 group from India last year.

Osama Abdelkhalek, the permanent representative of Egypt which has a role in the Gaza peace process, also had a meeting with Harish and they “agreed to work closely in the UN”, according to an Indian Mission post on X.