New York: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres inaugurated the bust of Gandhi on Wednesday at a sombre ceremony at the North Lawns of the United Nations, marking the arrival of the Mahatma at the world body’s headquarters during India’s Presidency of the powerful 15-nation Security Council for the month of December.
The bust is the first Gandhi sculpture installed in the UN headquarters, which proudly displays gifts and artifacts from around the world. The Gandhi bust, a gift from India to the United Nations, is made by renowned Indian sculptor Padma Shree awardee Ram Sutar, who has also designed the ‘Statue of Unity’.
Jaishankar arrived in New York Tuesday to preside over two signature events on counter-terrorism and reformed multilateralism being held under India’s current Presidency of the UN Security Council, before the curtains come down this month on the country’s two-year tenure as elected member of the powerful 15-nation.
Notable works of art at the UN HQ 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.
