Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday advocated the expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and supported India’s bid for permanent membership in a reformed and powerful UN body.
“We have a Security Council that is blocked…Let’s make the UN more efficient. We have to make it more representative,” he said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the media reported.
“That’s why,” Macron said, “France is in favor of the Security Council being expanded. Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be permanent members, as well as two countries that Africa will decide to represent it.”
India has for long been pushing for urgent long-pending reforms of the Security Council, emphasizing that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member. It argues that the 15-nation UNSC, founded in 1945, is a misfit in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geo-political realities.
At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France, and the United States who all can veto any substantive resolution.
India last sat at the UNSC as a non-permanent member in 2021-22. There has been a growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.
In his address, President Macron also called for a change in the UNSC’s style of working, a limitation of the right of veto in cases of mass crimes, and more attention to operational decisions required for maintaining peace.
The time has come to regain efficiency to act better on the ground, he said.
His remarks came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the “Summit of the Future” on Sunday, emphasized that for global peace and development, reforms in institutions are essential, and the key to relevance.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned the 15-nation UNSC, which he described as an outdated body whose authority is eroding, will eventually lose all credibility unless its composition and working methods are reformed.
The UN chief gave a clarion call: “We can’t build a future for our grandchildren with a system built for our grandparents.”