Jaishankar will chair signature Presidency events at UNSC, discuss Afghanistan

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar who arrived here to chair two highlevel signature events this week under Indias current Security Council Presidency has said that he expects to discuss the situation in Afghanistan during his engagements at the United NationsJaishankar arrived on Monday as the Security Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in Afghanistan the second time in just over the 10 days that the powerful UN body met under Indias Presidency for the month of August to discuss the rapidly deteriorating and unraveling situation in the wartorn countryldquoSignificant UN Security Council discussions today on developments in Afghanistan Expressed the concerns of the international community Expect to discuss these during my engagements at the UNrdquo Jaishankar tweetedJaishankar also discussed the latest developmentsrdquo in Afghanistan with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and ldquounderlined the urgency of restoring airport operations in Kabul Deeply appreciate the American efforts underway in this regardrdquoState Department spokesperson Ned Price said that Blinken spoke with Jaishankar ldquotoday about Afghanistan and the developing situation thererdquoIn a series of tweets Jaishankar said that he is monitoring the situation in Kabul continuously ldquoUnderstand the anxiety of those seeking to return to India Airport operations are the main challenge Discussions on with partners in that regardrdquoJaishankar also said that New Delhi is in constant touch with the Sikh and Hindu community leaders in Kabul ldquoTheir welfare will get our priority attentionrdquoAs India assumed the Presidency of the 15nation Council for the month of August it had outlined maritime security counterterrorism and peacekeeping as the focus areasJaishankar will chair an open debate on August 18 on technology and peacekeeping under the overarching theme of Protecting the ProtectorsIndias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said in a tweet that Jaishankar will participate in a ceremony at the UN Peacekeeping memorial in the UN headquarters along with Secretary General Antonio GuterresJaishankar will also chair a highlevel event on August 19 on counterterrorism during which the Council will discuss the Secretary Generals sixmonthly report on the threat posed by ISILDaesh under the agenda item Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist ActsPrime Minister Narendra Modi had chaired the virtual highlevel open debate on maritime security that was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and BlinkenA statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said that the open debate on Peacekeeping will focus on the theme of Protecting the Protectors including through the use of modern technological tools to enhance the safety and security of Peacekeepers and to aid Peacekeeping Missions to effectuate their mandates effectively and efficientlyIndia in collaboration with the UN would be rolling out the UNITE AWARE Platform which is a ldquosituational awareness software programme that allows a Peacekeeping Operations Centre to visualise and analyze the ground situation in a conflict zone on a real time basisrdquoThe project aims to demonstrate the impact of modern surveillance technology on the detection of asymmetric threats and to improve camp security for UN peacekeepers the overall security situation and quality of situational awarenessIndia has partnered with the UN to roll out the UNITE Aware platform initially in four Peacekeeping Missions MINUSMA Mali UNMISS South Sudan UNFICYP Cyprus and AMISOM SomaliaAn MoU between the Government of India and the UN in support of the Partnership for Technology in Peacekeeping initiative is expected to be signed during the visit The executing agencies for this MoU would be the Center for UN Peacekeeping CUNPK on the Indian side and UN C4ISR Academy for Peace Operations Command Control Communications Computers Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance based in Entebbe Uganda on the UNs sideDuring the visit Jaishankar would also have bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of other Member States on the sidelines of these UNSC highlevel eventsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever