15 MPs Join India's Delegation at UN General Assembly

15 MPs representing India's political, geographic diversity at UN General Assembly

United Nations, Oct 6

They paid homage on Monday to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue on the UN campus before heading out to their General Assembly assignments.

India's Permanent Representative P Harish, the senior diplomat who heads India's UN Mission, briefed the MPs on India's engagement with the UN.

The MPs met with Assistant Secretary-General Kanni Wignaraja, who is also the regional director for Asia and the Pacific, and discussed the work of the UN Development Programme in India.

During the meeting, they explored how parliamentarians can advance the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

The MPs plunged immediately into their assignments representing India.

Two of the BJP MPs, Banshilal Gurjar from Madhya Pradesh and C P Joshi from Rajasthan, spoke in Hindi with simultaneous translation.

Gurjar addressed the Assembly's Fifth Committee that deals with budgetary and administrative matters on the scale of assessments for the apportionment of UN expenses.

C P Joshi, who heads the Parliament Committee on Petitions, addressed the Second Committee that deals with economic and financial matters.

Gumma Thanuja Rani, a YSR Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, spoke in English on the organisation of work at the Fifth Committee.

Traditionally, MPs reinforce India's presence at the General Assembly during the months after its new session begins in September.

There are six MPs from the BJP, and besides Joshi and Gurjar, they are Mahima Kumari Mewar from Rajasthan; Biplab Kumar Deb, BJP national general secretary from Tripura; Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri from Karnataka; and Sikander Kumar from Himachal Pradesh.

The two Congress Party MPs in the delegation are Rahul Kaswan from Rajasthan and Anil Kumar Yadav from Telangana.

The others, besides them, are LK Sudhish of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam from Tamil Nadu; Asit Mal of the Trinamool Congress from West Bengal; Smajwadi Party's Priya Saroj from Uttar Pradesh; Lovely Anand of the Janata Dal (United) from Bihar; Sanjay Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal also from Bihar, and Rajabhau Waje of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) from Maharashtra.

— IANS