PM Modi’s pitch for UNSC membership: How can India get a permanent seat?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet again pushed for India to receive permanent status on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Modi, in an interview with French newspaper Les Echos ahead of his two-day trip to France_,_ asked “How can we talk of it as a primary organ of a global body, when entire continents of Africa and Latin America are ignored ? How can it claim to speak for the world when its most populous country, and its largest democracy, is not a permanent member?” Modi added that the UNSC’s ‘skewed membership’ leads to opaque decision-making processes, which adds to its helplessness in addressing the challenges of today. But what is the UNSC? What is India’s status? and how do you become a permanent member? And who is supporting India’s permanent membership bid? Let’s take a closer look: What is UNSC? According to the UN website, the security council is responsible for maintaining international peace and security. “The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorise the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security,” as per the website.

The council has 15 members – each having one vote.

All members are mandated to comply with the UNSC’s decisions. Of the 15 members, five are permanent and the rest are non-permanent. The UNSC permanent members, collectively known as the P5, are:

• The United States
• The United Kingdom
• China
• France
• Russia

The UNSC’s non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. The current non-permanent members are:

• Albania
• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Gabon
• Ghana
• Japan
• Malta
• Mozambique
• Switzerland
• United Arab Emirates

According to the website, more than 50 of the United Nations 193 Member States have never been invited to join the Security Council as non-members. India’s status at UNSC and permanent membership India is currently not a member of the UNSC. In the past, India has been a non-permanent member on several occasions including 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992, 2011-2012 and the latest term in 2021-2022, as per CNBC. [caption id=“attachment_12502922” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A meeting of the UN Security Council, at United Nations headquarters. AP[/caption] India’s most recent two-year term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) began in January 2021 and concluded in December 2022. India received 184 of the 192 votes in the June 2020 elections.

India has been making efforts to become a permanent UNSC member for a long time.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar have most recently given voice to India’s demand. “The rights of the Global South have been long denied. As a result, there is a feeling of anguish among the members of Global South, that they are forced into undertaking action but when it comes to decision making they don’t find a place or voice for themselves. The true spirit of democracy has not been respected vis-a-vis the Global South,” Modi was quoted as saying by NDTV. Modi also commented on New Delhi’s stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine. “India’s stand has been clear, transparent and consistent. I have said that it is not an era of war. We have urged both sides to resolve issues through dialogue and diplomacy. I told them that India is ready to support all genuine efforts that can help bring this conflict to an end. We believe that all countries have an obligation to respect the respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, to abide by international law and adhere to the UN Charter,” Modi added. The Times of India quoted Jaishankar in March as saying, “This is like five people, who are occupying the first-class compartment of a train and don’t want others to enter it. They put various barriers like increasing the ticket price and other restrictions. The fact is that some of them are resisting the idea of India becoming a member. Over the years, support for us in Europe is picking up. I am very sure a large number of countries will say ‘yes India should be in’. It is a matter of perseverance and determination. All the time, we will have to build the support. I am confident that one day it will happen as certain things cannot be denied. We are the largest country in the world and today in fifth place.” How does one become a permanent UNSC member? It’s not an easy task. According to Outlook, expansion of the UNSC is no mean feat due to the UN charter rules – which require a yes vote from two-thirds of member states.

Then there’s also the veto from any of the five permanent members to worry about.

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Of the five permanent UNSC members, the US, the UK, France and Russia have all repeatedly expressed support for India’s long-standing bid to win a permanent seat at the table. However, China, using its veto power, has repeatedly blocked India’s bid for permanent membership. What have India’s supporters said? In June, US president Joe Biden reiterated Washington’s support for New Delhi’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. Biden welcomed India’s candidature as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2028-2029 considering India’s significant contribution to the UN system, commitment to multilateralism and active engagement in the intergovernmental negotiation process on Security Council reforms. [caption id=“attachment_12509942” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] President Joe Biden has pushed for India to become a permanent member of the UNSC. AP[/caption] The joint statement released by India and US read, “In this context both sides remain committed to a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council.” “Sharing the view that global governance must be more inclusive and representative, President Biden reiterated US support for India’s permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council(UNSC),” the joint statement read. Biden further welcomed India’s candidature as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2028-2029 considering India’s significant contribution to the UN system, commitment to multilateralism and active engagement in the intergovernmental negotiation process on Security Council reforms. It further said, “In this context, President Biden welcomed India’s candidature as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2028-29 term, in view of India’s significant contributions to the UN system and commitment to multilateralism, as well as its active and constructive engagement in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations process on Security Council reforms, with an overall objective of making the UNSC more effective, representative, and credible.” UK The UK in July called for the expansion of the UN Security Council’s permanent seats to include India, Brazil, Germany and Japan as well as African representation, underlining that it is high time the powerful UN body entered the 2020s. Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of July Ambassador Barbara Woodward’s comments came as she briefed UN correspondents on the programme of work of the Security Council for the month. On reform of the UN Security Council, “we want to see the expansion of the Council’s permanent seats to include India, Brazil, Germany and Japan and African representation. It’s high time the Council entered the 2020s,” Woodward told reporters here on Monday. “Introducing India and Brazil would bring a wider geographical representation into the Council, but also to bring in countries that have more influence than they had when the original Security Council was put together in 1945 for obvious reasons,” she said. “There’s a sort of combination of recognising the world as it is today, alongside geographical balance, and that’s behind our position too on Africa,” she said. The UK government in June also expressed support for India’s bid for permanent membership of the powerful Security Council. In a speech at a conference at the Chatham House think-tank in London. UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called for a reinvigorated multilateral system that is more reflective of the times. He pointed out that the world’s economic centre of gravity is shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic and towards the Indo-Pacific but the multilateral institutions are yet to catch up. “I have five transnational priorities. First, reform of the United Nations Security Council. We want to see permanent African representation and membership extended to India, Brazil, Germany and Japan,” said Cleverly. “I know this is a bold reform. But it will usher the Security Council into the 2020s. And the UNSC has grown before — albeit not since 1965. My second priority is reform of the international financial institutions. This matters for climate finance and, of course, for poverty reduction,” he said. Cleverly also hailed India’s leadership role with its presidency of the G20 in pitching for representation of poorer nations on the world stage. “It seems obvious to me that the voice of the poorest and most vulnerable countries must be heard at the heart of the multilateral system. That’s why we support permanent membership of the G20 for the African Union and welcome India’s leadership on taking this forward,” he said. France In December, the French ambassador to UN Nicolas De Riviere at a UN Security Council open debate said that his country “supports the candidacy of Germany, Brazil, India, and Japan as permanent members". “I want to reaffirm forcefully that France is in favour of a reform of the Security Council…We support the enlargement of the Security Council to take into account the emergence of new powers that are willing and able to assume the responsibility of a permanent presence in the Security Council.” Russia Russia’s Sergey Lavrov also hailed India for adding value to the council as a non-permanent member for its stance on global and regional issued. “I think that India is currently one of the leading countries in terms of economic growth, maybe even the leader. Its population will soon be bigger than that of any other country. New Delhi has vast diplomatic experience in settling various kinds of problems, as well as authority and a reputation in its region,” Lavrov said. With inputs from agencies