New York: India on Tuesday (local time) reiterated its long-standing call for the reform of the United National Security Council (UNSC), saying it was stuck in a "1945 vintage binary outlook" and slammed the manipulation of the council's mechanisms by main countries and groups that are "detrimental" to the multilateral spirit.
"While we may have succeeded in preventing another world war, this does not hide the reality of the UN’s inability to respond to increasingly complex global challenges such as terrorism, pandemics, climate change, threats posed by emerging technologies, cyberattacks and the disruptive role of non-state actors. Clearly, the growing stresses that the international system has experienced in recent years call for a multilateral response," said India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, R Ravindra, at the UNSC Open Debate.
The Indian diplomat further underscored that UN member-states have been forced to consider alternatives to multilateral agreements due to persisting disillusionment with the existing system, such as replacing multilateral rules with those of like-minded countries. He further said the UN mechanisms are gradually losing their functional character in a dynamic world due to dissatisfaction with the static nature of existing institutions.
"The primary reason the multilateral system has failed to deliver is that it is still stuck in a 1945 vintage binary outlook reflected clearly in the composition of this Security Council. The core of India’s position on reformed multilateralism, therefore, lies in a call for the reform of the UN Security Council that is reflective of the contemporary realities of today," he added.
Ravindra called for a recommitment to time-bound negotiations on UNSC reforms and asserted that multipolarity is "here to stay". He further said that big countries sabotaging negotiated processes and mechanisms in the narrow interest of their own positions is detrimental and must be called out.
"The multilateral system cannot deliver without the sustained commitment of major powers and groups, to global institutions and a rules-based order... All must adhere to the building block of international cooperation, which is good faith negotiations... India has consistently worked to strengthen multilateralism, seeking reform of the UN, the Bretton Woods system and the WTO," he said.
India has been at the forefront of years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member at the UN's top organ to better represent the interests of the developing world. The nation's quest has gained momentum with support from the international community. India has insisted that the UNSC in its current form does not represent the geopolitical realities of the 21st century.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is composed of 15 member states, including five permanent members with veto power and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The five permanent members of the UNSC include China, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States. The non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are elected for 2-year terms by the UNGA.
During the G20 Leaders Summit last year in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for changing multilateral systems in accordance with the "realities of the present" and took the example of the United Nations Security Council. "When the UN was established, the world at that time was completely different from today. At that time, there were 51 founding members in the UN. Today the number of countries included in the UN is around 200. Despite this, the permanent members in UNSC are still the same," he said at the Summit.
In March, India presented a detailed model on behalf of G4 countries - Brazil, Germany, Japan and India - for UN Security Council reform that includes new permanent members elected democratically by the General Assembly and displays flexibility on the veto issue. The Indian model noted that the current composition of the Security Council, with its “glaring under-representation and un-representation” of key regions in both categories of membership, is “detrimental” to its legitimacy and effectiveness.
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