India Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August. It has several important items on its agenda for the world body's functioning under this period, especially those focusing on areas of its core interests, NDTV said. This is India's tenth tenure. So far it has been president of the body nine times - June 1950, September 1967, December 1972, October 1977, February 1985, October 1991, December 1992, August 2011, and November 2012.

"During our Presidency in August, India is organising three high-level signature meetings, focusing on our priority areas: maritime security, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism," India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, said in a video message from the Security Council.

"India will also be organising a solemn event in the memory of peacekeepers," he said.

The Council, he said, plans several important meetings, including those with representatives of Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and other countries of the middle-east.

"I'm confident that India's presidency will contribute to strengthening international peace and security further," Ambassador Tirumurti said.(SAM)