India raises contribution to UN

India has raised its contribution to the United Nations to 150,000 dollars to assist small Commonwealth states run the joint secretariat for their UN missions.
India has till recently been contributing only 15,000 dollars per year but at the Durban Commonwealth summit announced the decision to increase the amount fivefold to 75,000 dollars from the current year, which commenced on July one.
Presenting the cheque at a brief ceremony at the Secretariat here, Indian ambassador to the UN Kamalesh Sharma said "We trust that this payment would contribute to the objective that we set ourselves, namely the promotion of the role of small states of the Commonwealth at the United Nations."
He said that India remained committed to South-South cooperation. The days when South-South cooperation was jokingly called "mouth-mouth" (talk-talk) cooperation are over," he quipped. The smaller Commonwealth states, unable to bear the expenses of running individual establishments, have joined forces to run a joint secretariat that considerably cut down on expenses.
Bureau Report