INTERNATIONAL DESK: Presenting a strong case for a permanent seat for India on the UN Security Council, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar opined on Sunday that the UN should be prepared for “reform” in this regard.

“What would happen if they do not reform? People will find solutions outside. And this is a message the UN has to understand,” Dr. Jaishankar said in an interaction with students and faculty of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) on the topic ‘G-20 and Vikasit Bharat.’

“Resistance to reform will eventually – it’s a bit like survival of the fittest – become anachronistic and therefore develop the danger of heading towards, not extinction, but a little bit of irrelevance,” he added. Dr. Jaishankar pointed out that of 54 countries in Africa, none is a member. Similar is the case with the Latin American countries. “The most populous country in the world is not there. The fifth largest economy of the world is not there. How long would you continue that?” he said.

Dr. Jaishankar asserted that the real achievement of the New Delhi G-20 summit was to get the top 20 countries of the world once again thinking about the “right issues.” The mission of G-20 was how to nurture and take forward global growth and global development, he said.

The key outcome of the summit, he said, was the acceptance by the top 20 nations that the other 125-130 countries are no longer able to meet their social targets and that something different needs to be done if the world should not falter in pursuit of sustainable development goals. Technology and tradition should support each other and move forward together, he said.

On the Chandrayaan-3 mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Union Minister said the successful lunar soft-landing was highly appreciated at the G-20 and BRICS summits.

The event was organised as part of the ‘Amrit Kaal Vimarsh – Vikasit Bharat @ 2047’ initiative. S. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and IIST, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre director V. Narayanan, IIST Registrar Kuruvilla Joseph were present. ISRO chairman S. Somanath joined the event online. (TH)