India`s permanent representative to the UN addresses security council matters
Mr President, we welcome your leadership on this critical question. We stand ready to wholeheartedly support you and the IgM co chairs Kuwait and Austria in this Endeavour of achieving equitable representation and increased membership of the UN Security Council. We also take this opportunity to congratulate Kuwait and Austria on their reappointment. Mr. President, as we begin this year's deliberations, we note that the reform of the UN Security Council was once again identified as a critical and immediate priority at the summit of the future discussions by our leaders. However, in spite of several decades of collective reiteration of this sentiment, it is disheartening that we have had no results to show in this regard since 1965 when the council was last expanded in the non permanent category alone. In our view, we need to critically examine the following factors and the role they have played in undermining any progress on this matter. First, the nature of the process of the intergovernmental negotiations itself. 16 years since its inception, the IG remains largely confined to exchanging statements speaking at rather than with each other. No negotiating text, no time frame and no defined end goal. Second there is the argument pushed by a select few countries who favour the status quo of consensus. They argue that even before we begin text based negotiations, we must all agree on everything. Surely we cannot have a more extreme case of putting the cart before the horse Third, As a member of the global South, we believe that representation stands as the unassailable prerequisite for both legitimacy and effectiveness of not just the council but the United Nations as a whole. Younger multilateral frameworks have been much more adaptive and nimbler on their feet. An example is the G 20 which under India's presidency last year welcomed the African Union as its member. This is proof that with political will, change is indeed possible. The UN turns 80 next year. Tasked with the responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, the Security Council has too often find itself paralysed by the geopolitical realities of today, which have evolved far beyond the realm of that of 1945. In today's interconnected world, Mr President, a more equitable council is very essential. That sentiment was also clearly reflected in the pact for the future, calling for representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions like Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia. The world of today is vastly different from the world of 1945. We cannot go on with the relics of the past for the demands of the future. India has consistently championed a Co-operative inclusive and consultative approach to international relations. We firmly believe that the calls for reform multilateralism with Security Council reforms at its core is supported by the overwhelming majority of the membership. While we seek real tangible progress in the IG, including with regard to development of a new model of reform of the Security Council as a precursor to tax base negotiations, we urge caution on two counts. First, the search for a minimum threshold of input from member states should not lead to indeterminate period of waiting for them to present their model. And second, the development of a consolidated model based on convergences should not lead to a race to the bottom to trace the lowest common denominator. Convergences are not consensus. There is every danger that the search for such a lowest common denominator might be used as a smokescreen to attempt a mere tinkering of the existing framework of the UN Security Council and terming it as a major reform. This would indefinitely postpone significant elements such as the expansion in the permanent category and addressing under representation of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean to a very distant future. India is hopeful that the member states work constructively to ensure a concrete outcome on UN Security Council reforms, an outcome that respects the sentiments of the majority through the time tested manner of negotiations. The legitimacy and credibility of the UN must be preserved by updating it. That indeed should be a resolution for the UN's 80th anniversary. Thank you, Mr President.
