Friday, March, 29,2024

Restructuring the UN Security Council: INDIA’S PROSPECTS

The United Nations Organisation (UNO) was founded in 1945 after the Second World War by 51 countries committed to maintaining international peace and security and developing friendly relations among nations. The UN has now 193 members and its main defined purposes are: to keep peace throughout the world; to develop friendly relations among nations; to help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedom and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals. The most powerful organ of UN, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security. However, the basic structure of the UNSC has remained almost unchanged since its foundation more than 75 years ago. Today, with significant changes in the realities of the global scenario, the legitimacy, effectiveness, democratisation, and representativeness of the Security Council is being questioned. A Working Group was established in Dec 1993 by General Assembly for the discussions over Security Council reforms or restructuring. Any restructuring of the Security Council would require support of at least two-thirds Member States (193) and consent of all of the permanent members of the UNSC (which have veto rights). Therefore, collaboration among the member states is essential in achieving the reforms. The divergent positions of member states have made it difficult to come up with a common plan so far. Restructuring of UNSC involves Democratisation by correcting the imbalances in power relationships among P5 and the rest of the world, Expansion in permanent and non-permanent seats to enable the UN organ to better deal with the “ever-complex and evolving challenges” and maintenance of international peace and security and Equitable Representation of all the regions of the world will give it a geo - political balance and desired effectiveness. Japan, as a member of G4 (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan), supports the expansion of both permanent and nonpermanent categories of the Council. L.69 group of countries from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific have committed to instilling “new life” in their efforts towards achieving reform of the UN Security Council.

INDIA’S BID TO UNSC
India has been a non - permanent member of UNSC eight times including the current term and has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council stating its rightful claim to be a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century. India’s claim for a permanent seat in the UNSC is justified being the largest democracy, the second most populous country, and the fifth largest and fastest growing economy. India has been as active participant in UN, raised its voice passionately against racial discrimination in South Africa, played its part in formulating decisions on several issues such as admitting former colonies to the UN, addressing deadly conflicts in the Middle East and maintaining peace in Africa and contributed extensively to the UN, particularly for the maintenance of international peace and security and has been major contributor to UN peacekeeping missions across the Globe. India also represents the interests of most of the underdeveloped and developing countries of the world. Its adherence to the principle of non-alignment and commitment to Panchsheel- Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence -that focuses on non-interference by one country in the internal affairs of the other has substantially promoted peace and stability in the world. India intends to be a global rule-maker, and, therefore, wants to be a member of the expanded UNSC permanent category to have a greater say in the emerging international order. However, India’s ambition has been hampered by the country’s security issues, China’s opposition and low pace of development.

Among the five permanent members of the UNSC, four countries, including the US, UK, France and Russia have bilaterally extended their support for India’s candidature to the permanent seat in the expanded UNSC. However, China has obstructed its inclusion. Countries such as Pakistan, North Korea and Italy, which are China’s close allies, have also been opposing India’s candidature for permanent membership in the UNSC. To sideline India, China instead proposes the inclusion of small and medium-sized countries. Apart from Chinese opposition Indian stand on NPT and CTBT is also a sour point which is not really liked by many countries. Despite some of these challenges, India being a current non- permanent member has accorded highest priority to restructuring of council and its stand on getting a permanent seat. It has enhanced its engagement with global fora of significance like G-4, G-20 (taking over Chairmanship), ASEAN, SCO (Currently Chairman), I2U2, The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Quad and L69. India has adopted multi layered strategy whereby it’s focussing on enhancing its support in General Assembly and reducing the resistance in Security Council. The call for reforms takes on a sense of urgency as the Security Council is stuck by system of vetoes of the permanent members and is failed to act on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As India expands its economic, military, technological and political capabilities and continue working on the management of global issues, it would be able to overcome the challenges in the path of permanent membership in the UN Security Council. The world wide recognition of role of Indian leadership in the ongoing Russo-Ukraine conflict definitely brings India closer to getting a permanent UNSC seat than ever before.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

COL RAJESH BHUKAR  The author is a Post Graduate in International Studies, Alumni of Defense Services Staff College, Wellington and College of Combat, Mhow

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