Mahatma Gandhi statue installed at UN headquarters is a gift by India. Twitter/@antonioguterres.
New York: The new installation of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at the UN Headquarters will “serve as a reminder of the values he upheld, and to which we must remain committed,” said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“Mahatma Gandhi was an uncompromising advocate for peaceful co-existence, non-discrimination and pluralism,” tweeted Guterres.
India’s Foreign Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Wednesday unveiled the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The installation of the statue comes during India’s Presidency of the powerful 15-nation Security Council for the month of December.
Guterres, President of the 77th UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi and India’s Permanent Representative Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj joined the EAM on the occasion and paid floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi.
High-level representatives of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members, including incoming members and senior UN officials, also attended the event.
‘Vaishnav jan to’ – favorite song of Mahatma Gandhi – was recited at the event.
The bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a gift by India, will be the first sculpture of Gandhi to be permanently located at the North Lawn Gardens of the United Nations.
The sculptor of the bust is Ram Vanji Sutar, who made the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue standing at a height of 182 meters near Kevadia in Gujarat.
The renowned works of art at the UN Headquarters include a section of the Berlin wall donated by Germany, Soviet sculpture ‘Let us Beat Swords into Ploughshares’, life-size bronze statue of Nelson Mandela gifted by South Africa and the ‘Guernica’ tapestry after the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso.
The other gift from India on display at the UN Headquarters is an 11th century black-stone statue of ‘Surya’, the Sun God, donated on 26 July, 1982.
With inputs from agencies
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