‘Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham’ for India at UN

The never ending debate over Security Council reforms reminds the Indian envoy to the UN of the hit Bollywood movie “Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham” or “Joy sometimes, despair at other times” as he himself translated.

“The title of the movie summed up our efforts here,” said India’s Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri, at an informal plenary meeting Tuesday on the intergovernmental negotiations for equitable representation on the top UN decision making body.

“When I entered this room this morning, I thought of drawing inspiration from a major Bollywood movie,” he said welcoming the decision of Zahair Tanin, the Afghan chair of the intergovernmental negotiations on UN reforms to hold the meeting.

“I know Indian movies used to be popular in Kabul. And in terms of size, as you would all know, Bollywood is bigger than Hollywood,” Puri said.

“I was reminded of a Bollywood movie of the last decade called ‘Kabhi Khushi, Kabhie Gham’ which can be loosely translated as ‘Joy sometimes, despair at other times.’

“It gives me joy when I think about the transformation you have brought about along with the member-states from the waffle of the OEWG (Open-Ended Working Group) to the start of intergovernmental negotiations in March 2009.

“This was followed by some despair which lifted when more than 140 countries wrote to you calling for the start of text-based negotiations,” he said

Noting that “what you have produced is something on which we can work,” Puri appealed to those who “trying to hold you back” to “maintain the process and we will give you the proposals.”

There are two clear choices, he said: “Either we continue to waffle or we make a determined push for reforms that should have already taken place.”