The Declaration by United Nations was the formal treaty signed by forty seven nation states at the end of the second world war, in Washington D.C., USA. India was one of these original signatories. Although technically only only sovereign states can join the UN and India was still under British rule when the Declaration was signed, all UN members are sovereign states today. Since then, India has been elected eight times to the Security Council. However, India has never been a permanent member.
China, like India, is one of the charter members of the United Nations, but unlike India, is one of the five permanent members of its Security Council.
RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND THE UN
In 1953, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, an Indian diplomat and politician and Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister, was elected the first woman President of the UN General Assembly. India supported the struggle towards global disarmament and the ending of the arms race, and towards the creation of a more equitable international economic order. In terms of direct involvement in international issues,
- India played the role of mediator in resolving the stalemate over prisoners of war in Korea, thus contributing to the signing of the armistice which ended the Korean War in 1953,
- India chaired the five-member Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, while the Indian Custodian Force supervised the process of interviews and repatriation that followed,
- India was actively involved in the Suez crisis and the invasion of Egypt, 1956, especially Nehru’s status as the Prime Minister of India and a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement being important, and
- India also played a prominent role in articulating the economic concerns of developing countries, e.g. the 1992 Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
India has always held the view that active participation in a global forum like the UN is a vital part of the process of ensuring lasting international peace and cooperation. As a leader among developing nations in the UN, India was the first country to actively oppose the apartheid in South Africa and raise the issue in 1946.
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC)
The UN Security Council is one of the six main organs of the UN, and is primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
The other five organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. The UNSC held its first session on 17 January 1946 in Westminster, London. Since then, the main headquarters for the council has been in New York City at the UN Headquarters.
It consists of 15 members — five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. The five permanent members are the US, UK, Russia, China and France. Every year, five non-permanent members are elected for a tenure of two years. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.
To be elected as a non-permanent member of the council, each member-country requires a two-third majority of the entire assembly. At the eighteenth session of the UNSC in 1963, the General Assembly had decided that the non-permanent members of the council should be elected according to the following pattern: Five members from African and Asian countries, one from Eastern Europe, two Latin American countries and two from Western Europe and other countries.
Every member-country of the council, including the non-permanent members, also assumes the presidency of the council every month. The presidency is determined in an alphabetical order. This allows them to decide the content and theme of the debates, which can draw attention to important issues for each member country with respect to international peace and security.
Responsibilities of UNSC: If there is a security crisis anywhere in the world, the matter is brought before the UNSC and they try to reach an agreement either through mediation, appointing special envoys, dispatching a UN Mission or requesting the UN Secretary-General to settle the dispute. If the matter escalates, ceasefire directives are issued and peacekeeping forces and military observers dispatched. Furthermore, if the circumstances are very dire then sanctions and financial penalties are imposed, arms embargoed, and travel bans can also be issued.
WHY INDIA WANTS TO BE A PERMANENT MEMBER
For a long time, India has pushed to be considered for permanent membership in the council. It has also been backed by several countries in this regard, including US President Donald Trump. UN Charter Article 27(3) states that votes in the Security Council on non-procedural matters “shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members“– this is often called the veto power of permanent members.
The permanent members of the UNSC have a veto power. This veto allows any of these five countries to block the adoption of a resolution. However, they cannot end or prevent a debate through this power. But unlike permanent members of the council, the non-permanent members do not have veto power. However, they have “collective right of veto” — any resolution of the UNSC has to be passed by at least seven non-permanent members even if all the permanent members support it.
The question of India’s permanent membership of the UNSC would be considered only after an agreement on the nature and extent of expansion of the Council is arrived at in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter which requires approval by two-third of the membership of the UN. An Inter-Governmental Negotiation (IGN) process of the UN has been working on various aspects of the reform, including categories of membership, issues relating to the veto power and regional representation.
RESISTENCE TO INDIA’S BID TO PERMANENT MEMBERSHIP
India’s attempt to find a permanent place at the UNSC has always been opposed by Pakistan. For Pakistan, the implications of India as a permanent member of the UNSC can be huge. If such an outcome emerged, Pakistan’s efforts to engage the UNSC over the issue of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) could be undermined. Pakistan considers UNSC interventions in J&K as a win for its attempt to make the issue an internationally recognized dispute. Moreover, Pakistan’s nuclear program can also come under greater scrutiny. For instance, India which is a permanent member of the UNSC, can demand that Pakistan give up its nuclear weapons, sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and put in place an effective regime to contain terror financing. In effect, from Islamabad’s perspective, India as a permanent member of the UNSC can become a threat to Pakistan’s core security and diplomatic interests.
To Pakistan’s benefit, the issue of UNSC expansion is larger than the Pakistan-India difference and involves scenarios that have global implications. Going forward, Pakistan would either want the international community to do away with the system of permanent seats altogether or become a member itself if India is offered the position
India’s frustration at being denied entry into the world’s most elite club is compounded by the fact that China is the only developing, non-Western, Asian country wielding veto power in the UNSC. In fact, India vigorously supported China’s entry into the United Nations and the Security Council as well.
Delhi’s quest for a permanent seat on the UNSC continues to meet with Chinese ambivalence at best, or resistance at worst. Although Beijing has made sympathetic noises in bilateral meetings with Delhi, China has been attempting to defeat any collective diplomatic effort to expand the Security Council’s permanent membership
The fate of India’s bid is mainly in the hands of the veto-wielding permanent members of the UNSC, and China is the only veto-wielding permanent member that has yet to extend unequivocal support to India’s bid to become a permanent member.
THE WAY FORWARD
With increasing Chinese participation in the UN, Beijing hopes to expand upon their international influence not through trade and military might, but rather through diplomacy and global engagement. China is starting to realize that this is a far more effective way of working on their expansionist policies, both at their territorial borders as well as their cultural and political borders. India needs to be especially wary of their neighbor to the east, since China is politically and militarily in a much better position right now. If India wishes to fulfill its dreams of becoming a permanent member of the UNSC, China has to be swayed.
