United Nations, May 22 (IANS): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres looks forward to working "very closely" with India's new Permanent Representative TS Tirumurti, according to his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

"We very much welcome India's new Permanent Representative to the UN," Dujarric said on Thursday at his daily briefing.

"I know the Secretary-General looks forward to working very closely with the new envoy in the years ahead," he added.

Tirumurti presented his credentials virtually to Guterres on Wednesday because the COVID-19 precautions have stopped in-person interactions at the UN headquarters building.

Tirumurti takes over as India's permanent representative at a crucial time as it prepares to serve a two-year on the Security Council as a non-permanent member starting in January.

India is certain to get the Asia-Pacific seat when the elections are held next month as it is running unopposed with unanimous backing all the countries in the region.

During the Security Council tenure, India will have a high profile in international affairs as the UN's highest decision-making body grapples with the problems of the post-coronavirus world.

As historically the largest contributor to UN peace-keeping operations which are mandated by the Security Council, India will have a seat at the table when deployment decisions are made and can directly push for the reforms it has been seeking.

Tirumurti comes to the UN after serving as secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with areas and subjects important to UN diplomacy.

Among the subjects he dealt with were development partnerships and economic relations and India has invested significantly in aid programmes through the UN.

He dealt with Africa, the Arab World and the Gulf region, which are important blocs in 193-member UN.

He has previously served at Indian missions at the UN in Geneva and in Washington and Southeast Asia.