UN chief arrives in India and pays tribute to victims of terrorism

Antonio Guterres is on a three-day visit to India

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres. EPA

Antonio Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, on Wednesday paid tributes to the victims of a terrorist attack at a luxury hotel in Mumbai city as he began his trip to India.

Mr Guterres, 73, is on a three-day visit to India, his first since he commenced his second term in office in January this year.

He arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday via a commercial flight from London and was greeted by senior government officials.

The diplomat visited Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, a site targeted in a series of terrorist attacks in 2008 that lasted for four days and rocked major landmarks in the city. More than 175 people were killed and 300 wounded in the attacks.

He placed a floral wreath at the memorial in the hotel.

He was accompanied by state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis,

This evening Mr Guterres will deliver a public address at the city’s premier engineering college, the Indian Institute of Technology, focusing on UN-India co-operation, according to a statement from India’s foreign ministry.

He will then embark on his visit to the western Gujarat state on Thursday where he will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the Mission LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment.

The concept of LiFE, introduced by Mr Modi during Cop26 at Glasgow in November last year, aims to create a global network of individuals known as Pro-Planet People (P3), who will adopt and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles.

He will also visit the country’s first solar-powered village in Modhera in Gujarat and see how solar rooftops installed on more than 1,300 rural houses are improving lives in the community.

He will meet External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to hold discussions on issues of global concern, steps to deepen India’s engagement with the UN, including through India’s upcoming presidency of the G20 and reformed multilateralism, the MEA said.

Before arriving in the country, Mr Guterres told an Indian news agency that he supports Mr Modi’s remarks to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war.

During the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit in September, Mr Modi had told Mr Putin that it was "not the time for war”.

The top UN diplomat expressed hope that India’s G20 presidency in 2023 will allow for the creation of effective systems of debt restructuring as the developing countries are facing a "perfect storm" because of the pandemic and the war-induced food and fuel inflation.

He will then leave for Vietnam, where he will take part in a ceremony to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the South Asian nation’s membership of the UN.