What is the issue?
- The United Nations commences the 75th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
- Now more than ever, the need for internal reforms to suit the 21st century is high.
What is the demand?
- Volkan Bozkir is the Turkish diplomat who is the incoming President of the UNGA.
- He has voiced concern that the structure of the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) ought to be more democratic and representative.
Why is the demand long overdue?
- The action has been long overdue on the demand, especially from the G4 countries, which advocate a permanent seat for all of them.
- [G4 countries - Brazil, Germany, India and Japan]
- Meanwhile, the veto powers that the UNSC’s five permanent members enjoy are an anachronism in this age.
- This is wielded as a blunt weapon to shore up their geopolitical interests, regardless of the disastrous cost for the victims of armed conflict.
When did the demand get a momentum?
- The push for reform gathered momentum following the unilateral declaration of war by the US and the UK, against Iraq, in 2003.
- The UNGA’s 122nd plenary meeting (2008) decided to facilitate the reform process through the Inter-Governmental Negotiations framework (IGN) on equitable representation as well as expansion of the UNSC.
- The UNGA’s adoption of a 2015 resolution to allow the IGN on the basis of a framework document generated some enthusiasm.
- But, it was dampened by the U.S., Russia and China being opposed to serious reform of the Council.
- In early-2020, the G4 bemoaned that the IGN process might have outlived its purpose given the absence of a negotiating document.
- In any case, the exercise has been deferred in view of the pandemic.
Will India be a permanent member soon?
- India’s election in June 2020 as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, obtaining 184 votes, was a diplomatic triumph.
- But the reforms to the UN are just a part of a broader vision in the declaration to commemorate the UNGA’s 75th anniversary.
- This will make it difficult for India to achieve its ultimate objective to become a permanent member.
What is next?
- The UN remains unreflective of the current trajectory, especially in the strategic and economic arenas.
- The multilateral framework now faces a challenge to fashion a collective response to humanity’s biggest problems, which include the pandemic.
- The post-war order faces an existential threat to its stability from the revival of nationalism across the globe.
- All countries must have the voice to influence policy.
Source: The Hindu
