Jagdish Dharamchand Koonjul, GCSK, GOSK, is the Permanent Representative of

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, and was

President of the United Nations Security Council The presidency of the United Nations Security Council is responsible for leading the United Nations Security Council. It rotates among the fifteen member-states of the council monthly. The head of the country's delegation is known as the president ...

in January 2002.

Career

Koonjul was Mauritian chief representative to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

from 2001 to 2002, and

in January 2002. He was Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations from 2001 to 2006. He served as Vice-President of the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...

from 2003 to 2004. From 2003 to 2006 he served as Chairman of the

Alliance of Small Island States Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is an intergovernmental organization of low-lying coastal and small island countries. AOSIS was established in 1990, ahead of the Second World Climate Conference. The main purpose of the alliance is to c ...

, and from 2006 to 2011 as Ambassador/Head of Bilateral Directorate for Asia and the Middle East. Koonjul was Mauritian Ambassador to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and Permanent Representative to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

from 2011 to 2015. Since July 2015 Koonjul served as Secretary for Foreign Affairs of

. In November 2015, Koonjul was appointed Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations for a second time. In 2016, Koonjul was awarded Grand Officer of the

Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * ...

(G.O.S.K) and later in 2022, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (G.C.S.K) for "valuable contribution in the field of diplomacy, particularly, for the effective completion of the decolonisation process of Mauritius."

2022 Mauritian expedition to Chagos Archipelago

In February 2022, Koonjul as Permanent Representative of Mauritius to the United Nations led a fifteen day Mauritian expedition to the islands of the

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago (, ) or Chagos Islands (formerly , and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about south of the Maldives archipelago. This chain of islands is the southernmo ...

, which recent decisions by the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...

and the

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law ...

had supported Mauritius' claim to the islands, rather than the United Kingdom's

British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chago ...

claim. Exiled islanders made their first unsupervised visit to an island in the Chagos Archipelago. Prime Minister of Mauritius,

Pravind Jugnauth Pravind Kumar Jugnauth (born 25 December 1961) is a Mauritian politician and former Prime Minister, succeeding, Aneerood Jugnauth, his father, who retired as leader of the majority in 2017. Following the victory of his, Alliance Morisien, coali ...

, said this was not to embarrass the UK, but "merely an exercise of our sovereignty over part of our territory and that is in accordance with international law." Koonjul raised the Mauritian flag on

Peros Banhos Peros Banhos, Pedro dos Banhos or Baixos de Pêro dos Banhos in old maps, is a formerly inhabited atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Île Yeye, located at the northeastern corner of the atoll, is the island of the Chagos Archipelago that is closes ...

. The main purpose of the expedition was to survey the unclaimed

Blenheim Reef Blenheim Reef is a partly submerged atoll structure in the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean. It includes the coral reef of Baxio Predassa in its southeastern rim, plus another completely submerged part. It is located in the northeastern part of ...

, to discover if it is exposed at high tide so is claimable.

Awards and decorations

*: ** Grand Officer of the

(2016) ** Grand Commander of the

(2021)

Personal life

Koonjul is married and has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koonjul, Jagdish Living people Mauritian politicians Ambassadors of Mauritius to Belgium Ambassadors of Mauritius to the European Union Permanent representatives of Mauritius to the United Nations 1952 births

Career

2022 Mauritian expedition to Chagos Archipelago

Awards and decorations

Personal life

See also

References