UN reform sans more seat in permanent category futile: India

Dharam Shourie

United Nations, Mar 5 (PTI) India has underlined the
need for expansion of the UN Security Council, saying any
reform that does not increase the permanent members of the top
group would be "incomplete and futile".

India also rejected the idea of increasing the seats
in the non-permanent category as an interim measure as
"fallacious".

Pointing out that an overwhelming majority of member
states strongly supports expansion in both the categories,
Indian UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen said any reform that does not
increase the number of permanent members would be "incomplete
and futile."

Participating in the informal inter-governmental
discussion on the expansion of the 15-member Council, Sen
strongly rubbished the argument of a minority of member States
that since the expansion of both categories cannot be
fulfilled, the intermediate option is the best way forward.

Though he did not name any country, Pakistan is one of
the supporters of the intermediate option which envisages
expanding non permanent category and reviewing the issue after
a set number of years.

Sen said such an argument is "fallacious" as the
number of countries which oppose the interim model far exceed
those who support it.

The interim option is untenable, he said, because
there is unanimous recognition that the 15-member Council does
not reflect the realities of 21st century and is not
representative of the vast majority of its membership.

The primary reason for this, he told the member
States, is that its composition of permanent members, which
dates back to post World War II scenario, is flawed.

Thus the Council expansion that maintains the same
permanent members cannot bring it in line with the today's
realities or enhance its legitimacy, "representativity" or
effectiveness.

The fact that an expansion of only non permanent
members carried out in 1965 did not result in improvement in
the working methods validates the argument for expansion in
both categories is necessary, he said, adding that is
unrealistic to expect the situation to change unless
number of permanent members increase.

In this context, he also pointed out that non
permanent members remain excluded from the core decision
making of the Council and increasing their number would not
change the fact, he stressed.

Currently, the Council has 15 members including five
permanent – the United States, Britain, Russia, France and
China with veto power – and ten non permanent members who are
elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term.

The current permanent members were victors of the
Second World War and were not elected by the Assembly. But in
any expansion, the Assembly would have new permanent members
by two-thirds majority, thus, it argued, they would be more
responsive to the sentiments of the member States.

The Group of Four of which India is the member has
proposed increasing the number of permanent members by six and
of non permanent member by four to take the total to 25.

Access and participation of non-members, particularly
small island states and landlocked countries and other
vulnerable countries, in the work of the Council, Sen said, is
crucial to any reform effort, apart from a dedicated seat for
them.

Given that non-permanent seats, including those
occupied by some of these countries, have not resolved the
problem, the only effective response is to elect new permanent
members, who can be held accountable through a review, he
added. PTI