United Nations: India has once again shown a strong stance on reforming the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). India has warned against efforts to make “minor changes” to the existing structure of the UNSC, saying it would indefinitely postpone important elements such as expanding permanent membership and focusing on the underrepresentation of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Ambassador P Harish, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, made these comments on the topic ‘Question of Equal Representation and Increased Membership in the Security Council’ at the annual plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.
He said that while the urgent need for reform of the UNSC has been reiterated over the decades, it is “disappointing that since 1965, when the last expansion of the Security Council took place only in the year 1965, we have no results to show in this regard.” The membership was increased from six elected members to 10. Pointing to the nature of the Inter-Governmental Dialogue (IGN) process, Harish said that its After 16 years of establishment, IGN is mainly limited to exchanging statements with each other. “There is no time limit,” he said.
India said- now there is no waiting situation
India has stressed that while it wants real concrete progress on the IGN, including progress in terms of developing a new ‘model’ of Security Council reform as a precursor to text-based negotiations, Delhi urges caution on two counts. Harish said the first is that requiring member states to submit a minimum threshold of information should not force them to wait indefinitely to present their model. Moreover, ensemble model development based on ‘convergence’ should not lead to a race to find the lowest common denominator. He warned that this could lead to the indefinite postponement or ‘long into the future’ of important elements such as the expansion of permanent categories and the focus on the under-representation of countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Putting the cart before the horse
India has also expressed concern that ‘consensus’ is being argued by a select few countries favoring the ‘status quo’. “Their argument is that ‘we must all agree on everything’ before starting text-based negotiations! Surely, we could not have a more curious case of ‘putting the cart before the horse’.” Harish said that as a member of the ‘Global South’, India believes that ‘representation’ is an indispensable condition for both ‘legitimacy’. And the ‘effectiveness’ not only of the Council, but of the United Nations as a whole. The term ‘Global South’ is generally used to refer to economically less developed countries. India has been at the forefront of efforts to reform the Security Council over the years, including the expansion of both its permanent and non-permanent categories.
Councils are not fit for 21st century usage
India says the 15-member council, established in 1945, is not fit for purpose in the 21st century and does not reflect contemporary geopolitical realities. India has asserted that it is rightfully qualified for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. In his address at the historic UN ‘Summit for the Future’ in September this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that reforms in global institutions are essential for global peace and development and that reforms are the key to coherence. (language)
Latest world news