English
New Delhi: An attempt to initiate a discussion in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis was thwarted as China teamed up with fellow UNSC permanent member Russia, as well as South Africa, to block Estonia’s proposal on the same.
China, notably, holds the current presidency of the UNSC, which will expire in coming days, on March 31. The office will then pass over to the Dominican Republic.
According to reports, China dismissed the proposal stating that it there was no consensus within the UNSC to take it up, which is a mandatory requirement for any proposal to be taken up there. Russia and South Africa, meanwhile, sought to absolve China from the blame of spreading the pandemic, stating that there was no direct link between the spread of the virus and ‘threat to peace and security of the world.’
Notably, Estonia, which, in its proposal had talked about ‘transparency’ over the coronavirus outbreak, had tried to initiate a discussion in the Council connecting the outbreak with a threat to peace and security of the world.
Previously, the Ebola outbreak, too, has been discussed in the UNSC.
Coronavirus originated from Wuhan in China, which has come under serious flak over its outbreak, with countries all over the world blaming it for the same. While it was initially the country worst affected by the infection, it was first overtaken by Italy, which was later leapfrogged by the United States.
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