Roving Periscope: The UNSC must reform now, says Dr. Jaishankar
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Wednesday that the need to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) could not be denied forever.
But he also noted that India never believed this will be an easy process.
At present, the UNSC has five permanent members—The US, the UK, France, Russia, and China. Of them, France, the US, and the UK are democracies.
India is among the ten non-permanent members of the body. It will complete its two-year tenure in December 2022 when it will preside over the Council.
Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution.
Besides India, several countries—Japan, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, and so forth—have also been trying to become permanent members of the Council
India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UNSC, saying it is the largest democracy and rightly deserved a place as a permanent member.
Responding to a question on the USA’s seriousness in reforming the UNSC, he said, “We have never thought that it was an easy process. But we do believe that the need for reform cannot be denied forever,” Dr. Jaishankar told a group of Indian journalists in Washington on Wednesday.
“I understand that the position that President (Joe) Biden put forward, is the most explicit and specific articulation of the US support for reform of the UN, including the Security Council,” he said.
“So, I don’t think it’s a reiteration of something. I don’t think in that sense, it’s kind of business as usual. Now, how this advances, where it goes, I think, depends on all of us: the members of the UN, and where we take it,” he said.
“It is not the responsibility of a single country, however powerful. I think it’s a collective effort that the members of the UN have to make. We have been pressing the reform effort, including through the IGN. And you also know where the reluctance comes from and let’s stay focused on it,” Dr. Jaishankar said.
Underlining that India is prepared to take up greater responsibilities, he said that negotiations for the much-needed UNSC reforms should not be blocked by procedural tactics and naysayers cannot hold the process “hostage in perpetuity.”
India seeks to ensure that it decisively addressed the injustice faced by the Global South, Dr. Jaishankar had said while addressing the UN General Assembly’s high-level General Debate recently.
“In our term, we have acted as a bridge on some serious but divisive issues confronting the Council. We have also focused on concerns such as maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism,” he said.
During a meeting in New York on Saturday last week, Dr. Jaishankar and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed reform of the Security Council and the situation in Ukraine and Myanmar.
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