A bust of Mahatma Gandhi is all set to be installed at the UN headquarters situated in New York, during India’s presidency of the security council next month. It will be inaugurated as a gift from India.
The statue was made by popular Indian sculptor Ram Sutar who was awarded the Padma Shri and also designed the renowned Statue of Unity in Gujarat. The bust will be inaugurated on December 14, during the Foreign affairs minister, S Jaishankar’s visit to the UN. The event will be attended by all members of the security council and will also include the incoming members who will join the council in 2023. The gift was accepted on behalf of the UN by the Secretary, Javier Perez de Cuellar.
During Jaishankar’s visit, India is to launch the ‘Group of Friends on Peacekeepers.’ India will co-chair the group along with other contributing countries to focus on accountability for crime against peacemakers. Last year when the Security Council had unanimously adopted a resolution to tackle crimes against UN peacekeepers, India highlighted peacekeeping as one of their priority areas and called out on other member states to prioritize peacekeeping in order to ensure justice for the victims.
The five new members (Albania, Ghana, Gabon, United Arab Emirates, and Brazil) whose tenure will begin from January 2023, will replace India and four other member states to join with the permanent members of the Security Council. Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the UN, said that the statue will be installed on the north lawns of the headquarters. This will be the first Gandhi sculpture that will be installed at the UN, which also consists of many other display gifts from different countries.
In an interview with the PTI, Ruchira also spoke about the importance of the gift in connection to the event. She said that Gandhi’s principle of peace and non-violence and PM Modi’s ‘No ear for war’ assertion are amongst the primary factors that have led to the installation of the bust. Gandhi’s legacy has been accepted widely around the world.
Other notable artefacts at the UN headquarters include a section of the Berlin wall which was given by Germany, a Guernica tapestry named after a famous painting of Pablo Picasso named Guernica, a life-size statue of Nelson Mandela made in bronze, and a soviet sculpture ‘Let us beat Swords into Ploughshares.’ This will be the second gift given from India, the first being a statue made of Blackstone belonging to the 11th-century sun god ‘Surya.’ It was donated in 1982 by the then-prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The statue dates back to the Pala period and is put for display at the conference building.
2023 has been designated to be the ‘International Year of Millets’. The proposal for this was brought by India and therefore India will promote and highlight millets during the month.
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