India and several countries have been pushing for the adoption of the negotiating text and the the US adding its weight gives it added impetus.

“It is now time to move forward with the establishment” of the memorial honouring the more than 4,000 UN Peacekeepers who have made the supreme sacrifice”, he said, noting that 182 Indian peacekeepers have died “upholding the cause of international peace and security”.

The report said that “according to available public reports by media and the protest movement itself, between July 16 and August 11, more than 600 people were killed. Of these, nearly 400 deaths were reported from July 16 to August 4, while around 250 people were reportedly killed following the new wave of protests between August 5 and 6 August”.

Munir Akram, the permanent representative of  Pakistan which is also a member of UfC, opposed expanding permanent membership but said that Africa can be considered a special case and be given long-term seats in the Council

According to Rana Dasgupta, a leader of the minorities organisation Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad, about 100 Hindus have been injured and two killed. Anti-Hindu violence took place at 97 places last week, and at least 10 temples were attacked, according to him.

While China has been providing an umbrella from sanctions for some Pakistan-based terrorists like Lashkar-e-Tayiba leader Sajid Mir, its Permanent Representative Geng Shuang spoke out at the meeting against double standards.

Although Pakistanis and their supporters cite the Security Council resolution asking for a plebiscite to be held in Kashmir, they ignore the Council’s demand that Pakistan and Pakistani nationals completely withdraw from the occupied areas.

“All countries must deliver by next year nationally determined contributions – or national climate action plans – aligned to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius”, he said

Bracketing China with India, Lavrov attacked the West’s criticism of these “Asian giants”. He said, “A multipolar world is a reality. It's not just a made-up of fiction”.

According to the data accompanying the report, India’s population is projected to grow from the 1.45 billion now to a peak of 1.7 billion in 2064 when the decline begins and register 1.5 billion in 2100, a 12 per cent drop.

The Indian peacekeepers are a part of the 10,000-strong 49-nation UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) charged by the Security Council to work with Lebanese national forces to keep order in the volatile section known as the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel.

While India does directly take on Pakistan by naming it by exercising its formal right of reply on major issues, New Delhi does not name it on other occasions like on Tuesday to deprive Islamabad of an opportunity to prolong the issue, which is ignored by almost all the other 192 members of the UN, but at the same time making a clear rebuttal.

It is high time to bring the Council in line with its Charter responsibility to act on behalf of the entire Membership”, but “this will not be achieved without enhancing the membership in both the categories” permanent and non-permanent, he emphasised.

Turning to the role of governments, he said, “Commit to creating and maintaining a free, viable, independent, and plural media landscape”.

The “Mind Over Madness” yoga celebrations at Times Square on Solstice Day has been going on for 22 years, starting a dozen years before the United Nations General Assembly created the International Day of Yoga.