Pitching India's stand for an overhaul of the United Nations Security Council, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh on Wednesday said it should represent today's world and geo-political realities, and not a world that existed long ago.
"We have a Security Council today that is clearly one of the most troubling anachronisms of our times. As a body mandated with the primary responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security, it is critical that it should represent today's geo-political realities and today's world, and not a world that existed at a particular point of time over half a century ago," Singh said at a seminar titled 'United Nations Security Council reform: Perspectives and prospects' at Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.
"It is also important that it conduct its business in a transparent manner reflecting present day working methods and diplomatic procedures of consultation and cooperation. The Council's present composition and working methods do not command credibility; it's functioning with respect to some of the troubled issues in recent years has been clearly less than effective," she added.
"It is not surprising that there is today a widespread acceptance of the necessity of the reform of the Security Council in order to change its composition to one that is more reflective of the vastly expanded membership of the UN and consequentially more responsive to a world that is very different from the one that existed in 1945. This is the only way to impart legitimacy and balance to the Council and restore its credibility as the prime organ of the UN charged with the maintenance of international peace and security," she said.
She also said that the reform process has not even begun as the developing world continues to remain marginalized.
"The post war conditions that existed in 1945 are long gone. The Council's actions today are primarily focused on developing countries whether they be Mali, DRC, South Sudan or Syria. It is there that the manifold impact of its actions is felt. The Council's actions are also not divorced from the functions of the other organs of the UN. Multi-dimensional peacekeeping or peace-building with complex mandates impacts on various other aspects, be they poverty eradication, development, humanitarian assistance and even governance. The vast majority of developing countries however have little say in the formulation of these mandates which are increasingly becoming more complex and robust," she added.
"As a leading troop contributing country, India cannot but also comment on the manner in which the Council mandates peacekeeping operations. This is the most visible manifestation of the Council's attempts to maintain international peace and security," she said.
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She said that consultations with troop contributing countries are limited and added that there is a near complete absence of genuine partnership between the Security Council and Troop Contributing Countries.
"Complex and dangerous operations like those in the DRC and South Sudan are mandated by those who have no boots on the ground. The absence of real life experience, and hence of genuine concern and understanding by the 'pen holder' of these mandates cannot bode well for the operations that they govern," she said.
"The need for increased representation of developing countries is widely acknowledged, and even promoted, by both the North and the South. It is this understanding that forms the basis for India's partnership with Germany, Japan and Brazil in the G-4 format. This is a partnership that bridges the divide between the North and the South, between East and West. It is inclusive rather than divisive in its approach. After all, a spirit of inclusiveness cannot but be essential if we are to have even modest expectations from the pre-eminent world body entrusted with the responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security," she added.
She said the reform of the Security Council has been on the agenda of the UN since 1993 when discussions first commenced in the format of the Open-Ended Working Group.
"The mounting frustration with prolonged and inconclusive debate led to the launching of Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) in 2007. Progress in the IGN, however, has so far only been incremental. The task before the IGN today is clear: to begin actual text-based negotiations where genuine differences of view can be addressed and resolved. Only if we do this can we hope to come up with a concrete result by the time the UN meets for its 70thanniversary in 2015," she added.
"Important as Inter-Governmental Negotiations may be, the constituency of belief in this most challenging of issues, needs to be expanded beyond Governmental negotiations. There is a pressing need to take this issue to the people it directly impacts. The involvement of thinkers, opinion makers and communicators is crucial. A push in the right direction will be in the interests of the UN, a body we are all committed to believe in and work for," she said.