The world is witnessing the rise of China as an expansionist nation creating a pessimistic environment in international politics defined theoretically in Classical Realism by Morgenthau’s 2nd principle – Nations always define and act for securing their national interests by means of power.
While China, a country which does not operate by the books, is threatening the democratically established international norms and rule-based order, India is getting ready for its eighth term at the UNSC.
Indian flag installed at the UNSC stakeout in the world’s largest multilateral institution marks the start of a new era for India’s geo-politics with the mantra of NORMS – New Orientation Towards Reformed Multilateralism. With an aim to ‘reform multilateralism’, New Delhi will look to shape an inclusive global agenda to spur innovative solutions to trans-national challenges.
India’s clear position on combating international terrorism as a non-permanent member reflects its commitment towards eradication of International terrorism and of perpetrators promoting it. India pushed for an effective response to global terrorism and abuse of information technology by terrorists, disrupting their nexus with sponsors, and stemming the flow of terror financing.
India’s bid to permanent membership & the untrustworthy UNSC
India winning the seat at the high table unopposed with an overwhelming support from the Asia-Pacific region displays country’s growing recognition among strategic circles, and this two-year term with twin presidency presents India with a unique opportunity for the country to demonstrate global power and responsibility, thereby strengthening its decades-long claim to a permanent seat on the Council.
India has vocally and rightfully asserted the demand for reforms in the functioning of the United Nations and UNSC which are long overdue. The previous year showed us the limitations of the institution – diverging from the path of transparency, bending the rules to favour the powerful countries – exposing the realist nature of international politics in the institution formed on liberal values, and failing to comprehend the founding principles of the UN.
Setting the tone for India’s two-year tenure in UNSC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We will work with all member countries to promote peace, security, resilience, and equity.”
The United Nations Charter begins with the line “We the peoples of the United Nations” which was agreed by the 50 founding members after fierce negotiations, and this opening line is notable because it promises each and every human being on the planet that if a particular nation fails to uphold its national duty, United Nations is the organisation to look for.
The power tussle between most powerful countries is hampering the very foundational values on which the United Nations was formed, and their priorities stand in the way of fulfilling the Charter’s first two pledges – to end “the scourge of war” and to regain “faith in fundamental human rights.”
The Security Council’s job to international peace was largely affected by the internal rivalry between the West and USSR during the Cold War, and today, between democratic countries and authoritarian nations. This resulted in Security Council to be unable to defuse major conflicts.
The starkest failure of the Council has been the handling of the nearly nine-year-old conflict in Syria, with Russia backing the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and the United States, Britain, and France supporting some opposition groups. It also failed to halt the fighting in Yemen between the Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition, despite a disastrous humanitarian situation and reports from its own investigators of war crimes on both sides. North Korea, an ally of China, has also consistently defied the United Nations, ignoring prohibitions against its nuclear program and missile tests.
“In recent years the UNSC has initiated no new resolutions. It has not even announced any new peace keeping initiatives or imposed fresh sanctions. All it does is to add an individual to the sanctions list or lift sanctions from certain individuals or groups if necessary. Beyond that no new initiatives have been taken by the UNSC in the last 10 years,’’ former Indian diplomat Dilip Sinha said.
The history proves that when President Bush declared war against Iraq in 2003 along with its western allies, UNSC was by-passed, and remained a mute spectator when Tony Blair and Bush destroyed the whole country in the name of ‘war against terrorism’, while blatantly lying about weapons of mass destruction to the whole world, and claiming lives of uncountable people.
Need of Reforms in the UN
Since its inception, the UN General Assembly has been a forum for lofty declarations, and rigorous debate over the world’s most vexing issues – from poverty and development to peace and security. Formed in 1945, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the only universally representative body of the United Nations with the membership of 193 countries, each with a vote in the UNGA.
The function of the General Assembly, as delineated in the Charter of the United Nations, is to discuss, debate, and make recommendations on subjects pertaining to international peace and security, including development, disarmament, human rights, international law, and the peaceful arbitration of disputes between nations every year at the organisation’s New York headquarters from September to December.
The United Nations in recent times has become less credible. This is reflected by its indecisive nature during emergence of adverse conditions, and decisive nature while favouring some countries which use Security Council for their national interests. The UN could not cope up with the harsh reality of power politics, which has reduced it to be a pawn of five powerful nations which sit permanently at the high table.
Whenever the efforts to revitalise the assembly’s functioning sets in motion, the rift between the developing countries, which want to retain a strong say in deliberations, and the wealthy countries, which serve as the United Nations’ main donors, emerges out.
Being the leader of the developing countries or the so-called third world, India can become the bridge between the Global South and its western partners, who got even closer to India to impede the revivalist China.
US has made India a NATO-level strategic partner by signing the contracts for further military technology transfer and intelligence sharing in order to contain China. It has also shifted its focus from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific, while France has supported India on Kashmir issue and has not allowed China to play any “procedural games” at the UNSC. France has also publicly denounced China’s ambiguity, whether it’s on Kashmir or in the Himalayas. Emanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor of French President, has said that France is diplomatically close to the Quad and can participate in the joint naval exercise with Quad nations in future. Britain has also played its card in favour of India by announcing the Prime Minister Johnson’s idea of ‘Global Britain’ post-Brexit, and India is positioned at the centre of that strategy.
Due to China’s belligerence in its neighbourhood, and India’s strategy to draw the global attention to its backyard, Indo-Pacific has become an important geo-political theatre for great power politics. India needs to capitalise this by strategically using the UNSC opportunity to safeguard its interests from bully China, along with strengthening its position of permanent seat at the High Table marching closely with the western powers and allies.
The institution completed its 75 years last year in 2020, the year most challenging for the organisation since it has been established from the ashes of World War II’s devastation. The organisation created to peacefully manage conflicts and foster global co-operation within multilateral forums, has witnessed extraordinary events on its 75th anniversary due to unprecedented strain on the framework of international institutions.
The debate on how to reform and strengthen the United Nations is more relevant than ever and what would be India’s role in democratising the institution in the times of great upheaval as it sits on the high table.
The United Nations in contemporary times is bedevilled by a complex number of challenges like gross underfunding as countries donate amounts less than their commitment. Bloated bureaucracy, disunity among members, and polarised views among permanent members thanks to geopolitical rivalry are other reasons the UN is suffering.
The delay in reforms weakens the effectiveness, and undermines the relevance of United Nations as the world parliament. Intransigence among the permanent members of the Security Council is the greatest setback to the idea of making UN more inclusive, representative, transparent, and effective. The powerful countries are moving towards unilateralism, populism, and nationalism at the expense of developing countries that require the United Nations, and in the meanwhile UN – a proud example of multilateralism and forum of collective action – is heading on a path of irrelevance.
Three of the five permanent members of the UNSC are European, representing about ten per cent of humanity, one is Asian, representing more than 30 per cent of humanity, and no member belongs to Africa. This fundamental imbalance denotes that the Security Council is misrepresented. Combine this up with weakened multilateralism, re-emergence of power politics, and the rise of new actors in the geo-political arena, and you got yourself a compelling case for changing the dynamics at the UNSC.
From the beginning, all power in the UN is concentrated in the Security Council, more specifically with the P5, which were given the power to veto. The road to concrete reforms such as increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members in the UNSC to proportionally represent the people of the world in the world’s largest multilateral organisation will most likely be bumpy.
The only time the strength of the UNSC was altered was in 1965 when the council’s size increased from eleven to the current fifteen members [five of them permanent (P5), and ten elected (E10)]. Post this the Security Council was seen as a ‘body of five plus ten members’.
Road ahead
The 15-member UNSC continues to play a significant role in international affairs even after the question keeps arising regarding its irrelevancy in international relations. This has often bogged down in political paralysis, primarily because of UNSC’s ability to impose economic sanctions on rouge countries as it did against North Korea over its nuclear arsenal and missiles, approve the use of force and authorise military intervention as it did against Libya in 2011, and provide legal mandates for peace operations around the world through UN peacekeeping forces.
Another crucial power which non-permanent members hold is the Collective Veto. For any United Nations Security Council resolution to pass, at least seven non-permanent members should agree to it even if the permanent members have already said yes to that resolution.
Along with the permanent members, the non-permanent ones also assume monthly presidency of the Council. As President, a nation can decide the topics of debate, and issues that are needed to be discussed at the high table. Non-permanent members also preside over several committees and working groups at the UNSC. Put these powers together, and there is enough room for India to lead from the front, and strengthen its claim to permanent membership.