India has been advocating for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for a while now. Amid this, on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar underlined India’s stance and said that reforms are a hard nut to crack, but hard nuts can be cracked. EAM Jaishankar was speaking in an interview at the Lowy Institute in Australia.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six main bodies of the UN, consisting of 15 members. Out of these, five are permanent which include China, Russia, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom and the other 10 rotate every two years. India’s non-permanent status commenced in the year 2020 and will terminate by this December.
The reforms being discussed would increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, there has been little progress in terms of growth due to the enormous authority wielded by the permanent members, who may reject reform measures.
“When I look back and think, well, this one is too difficult, I won’t be doing too much in my life. Life has been a set of challenges particularly for a country like India. I would not let the difficulties of the challenge discourage me. I’d put it the other way around”, Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister also emphasized that the UN Security Council has not adequately assisted certain nations in dealing with their challenges. “There are whole continents today which actually feel that the Security Council processes do not take into account their interests”, he added.
He also said that a few African countries and Latin American countries feel that the UN is doing nothing for them, and it is posing damage to the reputation of the United Nations. “If you go to a UN General Assembly and talk to countries in Africa and Latin America, and the small island states, quite apart from Asia, you feel very very strongly that this is not their UN and I think this is damaging to the UN”.
Jaishankar also said that India endured a terrible two and a half years with China, involving the first violence on their borderline after 40 years. “We had a two-and-a-half very difficult years in our relationship with China, which has included the first bloodshed we’ve had on the border after 40 years and where we actually lost 20 soldiers”, he said adding that the country kept communication line open with Beijing as neighbors have to deal with each other.
“My endeavor has been to keep the communication lines going. I called up my counterpart Wang Yi and urged him to ensure that there are no escalatory moves or complicated moves on the Chinese side. Diplomacy is about communication. It’s not just in relationship with China, even in relationship to (other countries)… If diplomats do not communicate with each other, then what kind of diplomacy will they do?”, he maintained.
To note, on September 24, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a push for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform after recognizing the weaknesses of the current multilateral institutions in dealing with global challenges. He also had hosted a meeting of two separate groupings, G-4 and L-69 in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and had discussed how global challenges have brought to the forefront the ‘urgency of reforming the United Nations and updating its main decision-making bodies’.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, India and Brazil are the top candidates for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Reports mention that aside from these two, Japan and Germany are also vying for a permanent seat. However, according to Jaishankar, India enjoys the backing of various countries since it advocates for the greater and global good.
