By Upasana Hembram
Indias aspirations to be included in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are decades old. The current permanent members of the UNSC comprise of China, France, Russia, UK and US. These five nations who were either the victors or their allies during World war II were made permanent members (P5) when the UN was formed. UNSC has been on the receiving end of criticism for its general ineffectiveness, inclination towards serving the interests of the powerful P5 with their veto power and for their underrepresentation geographically. UNSC created in the post-war context does not reflect changes in the international system after the cold war. In this contemporary time, the political order in the world is multipolar and not bipolar with developing nations playing bigger and bigger roles in shaping international affairs. Deprived of democracy within its operations, how is the UNSC expected to take crucial decisions to solve the global crisis in a multilateral arena?
The story behind UN’s membership process
The inclusion of new members in the UNSC is a part of the UN reform process, a long-drawn procedure that deliberates on categories of membership, veto held by the permanent members, regional representation in the council, size of the expanded council and its methods of functioning and the relationship between the UNSC and UN General Assembly. Besides all permanent members exercising their veto right, for a UN reform to pass, it requires the consensus of at least two-thirds of UN member states. A report delivered by the General Assembly Task Force on Security Council has already addressed the question of equitable representation and discussed the subject of the increase in the membership of the Security Council. The report suggests a solution of compromise when indulging in governmental negotiations on reform. It recommends a timeline perspective for the Member States to identify topics of short-term intergovernmental negotiations. This would involve scheduling of mandatory review conferences wherein changes to reforms to be attained in the near-future could be discussed and changes that werent agreed upon in the past could be revisited and negotiated.
Discord among ‘the big 5’ on reforms
In 2015, the long impending UNSC reforms exercise did not witness participation from Russia, China and the US. China, in particular, strongly opposed the expansion of UNSC and wanted to veto on UNs proceedings of a one-year discussion on how the reforms should be framed but it failed to gather enough support. The new permanent member proposal comprised of a group of G4 nations, namely Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. Apart from mutual support of each others bids to permanent seats in the UNSC, the group of G4 nations also enjoy the support of UK, France and Russia. Once the draft resolution of Question of equitable representation on and Increase in the membership of Security Council is agreed upon, it will need two-thirds of votes at the General Assembly to be cleared.
India’s prospects for a seat with the P5
As the largest democracy in the world, the fastest growing major economy and with its peacekeeping contributions and influence, Indias role in geopolitics and its significance in world economy and trade can no longer be ignored. With balanced relations with all of the Arab states in the Gulf region, the UNSC could greatly benefit with a negotiator other than China in the Middle East. Initiation of India to the UNSC would reflect a more democratic institutional structure of the UN itself and would enable a shift towards the focus on developing nations.UNSC decisions continue to remain supreme in the realm of international security. It is still accepted as the most appropriate platform where national perspectives can be hammered out, codified and ratified among major powers and published with a degree of transparency. Even though External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called for an early start to negotiations of UNSC reforms and expansion of the UNSC with the support of more than 160 nations, the path will not be smooth. The P5 need to realise that there are more pressing issues at stake than the risk of dilution of their prerogative, which requires a more democratic and representative UNSC that will be better-equipped to deal with long concerning global challenges.
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