United Nations, Oct 6 (IANS) : India which has consecutively made the UN “Honours List” for prompt payment of its dues, has urged all member nations to send in their dues on time, and to ensure adequate funding for development agenda.
Speaking on Monday at the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which deals with the UN’s budget, BJP MP Banshilal Gurjar highlighted India’s timely payment of its contribution to the general budget, putting it on the Honour Roll.
He emphasised that everyone should pay their assessed contributions in full, on time, and without preconditions.
That was an implied criticism of the US, which has been withholding part of its dues to the UN and setting conditions for paying its assessed dues under the UN Charter.
Delayed payments by the US and China, the two largest contributors to the UN, have brought it to the brink of a financial crisis before Washington paid a part of its share and Beijing sent in this year’s dues in full just before the high-level meeting of the General Assembly last month.
Gurjar spoke in Hindi with simultaneous translation piped into the five official languages of the UN.
Gumma Thanuja Rani, of the YSR Congress Party from Andhra Pradesh, who spoke at the same committee, said it was important to continue the reform agenda during the current session of the General Assembly.
She highlighted the needs of the UN’s development agendas and said adequate allocations should be ensured for these key UN endeavours.
Gurjar expressed concern over the delayed payments by the UN of the dues to countries that provide troops and police for peacekeeping operations.
Most of the countries are developing countries, and they are being made to indirectly finance the peacekeeping operations by not getting prompt payments in order to keep them afloat, while some countries withhold or delay their payments.
He reiterated India’s support for the principle of “capacity to pay” while apportioning the share of dues for members, and he added that this is non-negotiable.
Developing countries must not be made to carry a disproportionate financial burden, he said.
