Long-held Indian dream of permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council received a strong endorsement recently. Throwing their weight behind India's long-held desire for a permanent seat on the UNSC, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepped out on Thursday in support of this issue. Starmer's support occurred at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, where he asked for the increase of the number of members in the Security Council. Also added “The Security Council has to change to become a more representative body, willing to act – not paralysed by politics.”
What is the UNSC and Who Are Its Members?
The United Nations Security Council is one of the six main organs of the United Nations. The UNSC has got the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. It has 15 members, consisting of five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. The five permanent members-the UK, China, France, Russia, and the United States-were given their positions after the Second World War in 1945. They also have the right of veto, meaning they can stop a substantive resolution. These ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term. They are not given veto power. The UNSC is often criticized for an outdated structure. It represents an architecture that finds its roots and expression in what appeared to be the geopolitical realities of 1945 rather than reflecting today's more complicated global topography.
India has been voicing a long-standing bid for a permanent seat on the UNSC.
India has been campaigning since years for a permanent seat at the UNSC, holding views it says that exclusion from the council does not reflect the current geopolitical order. The world's fifth-largest economy and one of the fastest-growing nations, India also feels it deserves a place at the high table of global decision-making. India's contention is that the UNSC in its current form is outdated and does not reflect the situation on the ground as it exists in contemporary reality. New Delhi has made it clear that for multilateralism to remain relevant, the council needs to be reformatted immediately. India was a non-permanent member of the UNSC last in 2021-22 and has seized every opportunity to flag its demand for a permanent seat. India's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj noted it as an "important issue" back in early this year, saying, "Our question therefore is how much longer will the will of five members continue to override the collective voice of 188 member states?
India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has also sounded hopeful that India will be able to become a permanent member of the UNSC, noting that there is growing international consensus that India must be a permanent member of the UNSC. However, at the same time, he also acknowledged that a lot more would have to come from India for this to become a reality.
Increasing International Confidence
India's quest for a permanent UNSC seat has been gaining momentum with mighty world powers coming forth to endorse it. A day before Keir Starmer's endorsement, US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron also came out with words of support for India's entry. Macron emphasized that there was the need to make UNSC more representative and effective and cited that "Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be permanent members, and two countries which Africa will decide to represent them". US President Joe Biden echoed the same sentiments in his speech and other leaders such as Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font and Micronesia's President Wesley Simina also came out in the support of India's candidature. Starmer centered his call for reforms at the UNSC on India's induction and further reeled out broader reforms to make the council result-oriented and less beset by deadlock. He sought permanent membership for Africa and countries like Brazil, Japan, Germany, and India to be accorded permanent membership.
Inputs by Agencies
Image Source: Multiple Agencies
Ⓒ Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved Powered by Vygr Media.
