India working on plan to counter Pakistan's July UNSC presidency

India is putting in place a strategy to highlight its economic prowess, its attractiveness as a global investment destination and contribution towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals while also underlining its problem of cross-border terror, as Pakistan prepares to take on the presidency of the UNSC in July.

People in the know told ET that while Pakistan is expected to try and build a narrative on Kashmir and internationalise it through an open debate during its presidency and hold the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)-UN meeting in July, India will focus on its economic success and organise a photo exhibition that showcases the human costs of terror.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar, who will be on a visit to the US for Quad foreign ministers' meeting, will inaugurate the photo exhibition in New York.


The United Nations Security Council will hold an open debate on July 22 on maintenance of international peace and security; promoting peace and security through multilateralism and the peaceful settlement of disputes, ET has learnt.

India will participate as this is an open debate. A meeting is planned on July 24 on cooperation between the UN and OIC. Other events are planned in UNSC throughout the month, including on the West Asia situation.

Several events are planned through July to showcase India's success story while Pakistan continues to parrot its decades-old version on Kashmir, according to a person who did not wish to be identified.

Suman Bery, vice chairperson of government policy think tank Niti Aayog, is expected to travel to New York in July to be part of programmes on economic growth story that India will be organising at the UN, including on UN SDGs.

India has achieved a significant milestone by entering the top 100 countries in the UN SDG Index for the first time, ranking 99th out of 167 nations with a score of 67.