India Tells UN Members: Pay Dues On Time And In Full
NEW YORK, NY- India, which has consecutively featured on the UN “Honours List” for prompt payment of its dues, has urged all member nations to pay their assessed contributions in full and on time, while stressing the need for adequate funding for the UN’s development agenda.
The remarks amounted to an implied criticism of the US, which has withheld part of its dues to the UN and set conditions for paying its assessed contributions under the UN Charter.
Delayed payments by the US and China, the two largest contributors to the UN, have previously brought the organization close to a financial crisis. Washington later paid part of its share, while Beijing sent in its dues for the year in full just before the high-level meeting of the General Assembly last month.
Speaking October 5 at the General Assembly’s Fifth Committee, which deals with the UN budget, BJP MP Banshilal Gurjar highlighted India’s timely payment of its contribution to the UN’s general budget, which has earned it a place on the Honour Roll.
He emphasized that all member nations should pay their assessed contributions in full, on time and without preconditions.
Gumma Thanuja Rani, a YSR Congress Party MP from Andhra Pradesh, also spoke before the committee and stressed the importance of continuing the reform agenda during the current General Assembly session. She highlighted the UN’s development agenda and said adequate allocations should be ensured for these key programmes.
Gurjar also expressed concern over delays by the UN in paying countries that provide troops and police for peacekeeping operations.
He said most of these countries are developing nations and that delayed reimbursements effectively force them to help finance UN peacekeeping operations, even as some member states withhold or delay their own payments.
Gurjar reiterated India’s support for the principle of “capacity to pay” in determining each member’s share of UN dues, saying the principle was non-negotiable.
Developing countries, he said, must not be made to carry a disproportionate financial burden. (IANS)
