Indonesia Leads UNSC Session, Envoys of Various Countries Wear Batik

New York, MINA – In the United Nation Security Council session, chaired by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister, Retno L.P Marsudi, Tuesday, representatives of various Security Council member countries wore a variety of batik and woven motifs from Indonesia.

Including Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, who wore motif of weaving brightly colored troso when presented at a hearing held at the UN headquarters, New York, United States.

“Batik as a dress code for the Security Council session is a form of respect for members of the Security Council for Indonesia who hold Presidency of the UN Security Council on May 2019,” Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Wednesday.

Besides the Secretary-General of the UN, other delegates who were seen wearing batik included the United States, Germany, Ivory Coast, France, Peru, Dominican Republic, and China.

“It is very nice that today’s meeting. It is beautiful and colorful, because most members of the UN Security Council wear batik, including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, wearing weaving from Bali,” said Foreign Minister Retno.

Foreign Minister Retno said that various batik worn by the UN Security Council delegation was their individual collections. A number of delegates collected the batik not only from gifts of Indonesian delegation but also those who bought it themselves during a visit to Indonesia.

Foreign Minister hoped that the use of batik in UNSC Session will increasingly popularize batik, which has been recognized by the UNESCO as a world cultural heritage.

Open Debate Meeting with the theme “Sowing the Seeds of Peace” which was intended to continue to encourage the capacity building of peacekeeping forces in various missions in the world.

The meeting was chaired by the Indonesian Foreign Minister and opened to all members of the United Nations and presented several speakers including UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Indonesia is ranked 8th out of 124 countries contributing the most peace troops sent by Indonesia to the UN with 3,080 personnel. They are spread in various countries under the mandate of the UN peace mission. (T/Sj/R04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)