Prime Minister Modi expressed India’s strong support for multilateralism, described the UNSC as a necessity, but said it was under pressure. “The credibility and effectiveness of global institutions are questioned. The reason for this is that there have been no changes in these institutions despite the passage of time. These institutions reflect the mentality and realities of the world 75 years ago, ”he said.
The remarks come before India takes over one of 10 non-permanent rotating seats on the UN Security Council in January. India has declared that “reformed multilateralism” would be a key focus of his two-year term.
Prime Minister Modi described terrorism as the greatest threat to the world, an indicator for Pakistan and also as an indirect blow against China that has protected Pakistan and Pakistan-based terrorists from UN sanctions. China blocked sanctions against the founder of the Pakistan-based terror group, Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar, for a decade before having to withdraw in 2019 under intense international pressure. China has stood in the way of India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) by labeling it alongside Pakistan’s entry despite New Delhi’s impeccable non-proliferation record in contrast to Islamabad, which has been a beneficiary. direct from the nuclear proliferation of North Korea and China.
Prime Minister Modi is not the only one who lobbied for reform of the UN Security Council. The president of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, recently spoke out against the existing structure, saying that it was not responding to the world’s greatest challenges due to “competing interests.” French President Emmanuel Macron has already called for a review of international cooperation mechanisms, to the point of stressing that the UNSC “no longer produces useful solutions today.”
Reform of the UN Security Council has been on the agenda for more than a decade. But member countries have been unable to agree on how big the council should be and whether other nations should have veto powers. As a result, the Security Council continues to mirror the global power structure of 1945, when the victors of World War II – the P-5s – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China – acquired their privileged status. Critics have long argued that the council, in its current form, is undemocratic and anachronistic and could lose its effectiveness and legitimacy unless it is transformed to reflect today’s world.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, speaking at the UN General Assembly this week, said: “Today’s Security Council is a damaged body. It has been unable to act credibly primarily due to its unrepresentative nature. But then, what is happening within the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process, to which we seem to be married? ”
The Intergovernmental Negotiations Framework is a group within the United Nations that is studying UNSC reforms. But it hasn’t progressed since 2009 when it was formed.
There have been no serious attempts to come up with a consolidated text to begin formal negotiations due to resistance from certain countries such as China that are opposed to the expansion of the UNSC membership.
For years India, Germany, Japan and Brazil have been trying to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, but the UN charter is such that it gives permanent members the power of veto to any resolution, including expansion of membership.
While the top four have endorsed India’s permanent membership, China has stalled it time and time again by setting conditions impossible to meet. China says there are huge differences among UN members on UNSC reforms and insists that a “solution package” must be found to accommodate the interests and concerns of all parties.
The Chinese mission to the UN has questioned the need for “hasty” reforms. It does not matter that informal negotiations for reforms have been going on for the past 10 years. “Initiating a text-based negotiation in a hurry or imposing a single document does not lead to building consensus and promoting unity,” the Chinese mission said in a statement.
India, along with Japan, Germany and Brazil, however, denounced China’s delaying tactics in September this year. New Delhi told the UNGA president that the intergovernmental negotiation process had become a convenient smokescreen to hide behind those who did not want to see any reform in the security council, a reference to countries such as China, Turkey and Pakistan.
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