UNSC meet to discuss COVID-19 on April 10, 1.30 am

New Delhi, Apr 09: The United Nations Security Council will hold a closed door informal consultation on COVID-19. The meeting will be held at 1.30 am on April 10.

This comes after 10 non-permanent members led by the Dominican Republic forced the UN Secretary General to hold a discussion on the pandemic.

This development comes after China demitted the Presidency of the UN Security Council last week. It may be recalled that Estonia had attempted to have a discussion on the pandemic, but was blocked by China, Russia and South Africa. It was argued that this was not a peace and security issue and hence could not be part of the UNSC's mandate.

On Friday, UNSC President Dominican Republic demanded for the informal consultation arguing coronavirus impacts peace and security. The demand was backed by Indonesia, Germany, Vietnam, Belgium, Estonia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Niger, Tunisia and South Africa.

The date for the informal consultations will be fixed after the UN Secretary General addresses the UNSC through video conference. During the address, an update on the status of the pandemic and also the steps are taken to fight the virus would be given.

The outcome of the discussion is still not clear as Russia would back China. The US, on the other hand, is yet to take a call. US President Donald Trump has off late gone soft on China after Beijing supplied 1,000 ventilators for New York. France and the United Kingdom are likely to favour an outcome during the informal discussions.