• The UN Charter, which was signed in 1945, set up the UN Security Council. It is one of the United Nations’ six most important bodies.
The other 5 parts of the UN are the General Assembly (UNGA), the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat. The UN’s main job is to keep peace and security in the world.
There are 15 people on the council. Five of them are always there, and the other ten are chosen for two-year terms.
The United States, the Russian Federation, France, China, and the United Kingdom are the five regular members. Each year, the General Assembly chooses five of the ten non-permanent members for a two-year term. The ten non-permanent places are given to people from different parts of the country.
• Each of the 15 members of the council takes a turn as president every month.
Powers to vote:
• Each Security Council member has one vote. The Security Council decides on things by getting a yes vote from nine members, including the votes of the five permanent members. One of the five permanent members voting “no” stops the motion from being passed.
• Any UN member that isn’t a member of the Security Council can take part in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council, even if they don’t have a vote, if the Security Council thinks that member’s interests are especially affected.
• In 1947 and 1948, India helped write the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and spoke out strongly against racial injustice in South Africa.
• India has helped make decisions about many things, such as letting former colonies join the UN, resolving deadly conflicts in the Middle East, and keeping the peace in Africa.
• It has given a lot to the UN, especially to keep peace and security around the world.
India has taken part in 43 peacekeeping missions, sending more than 160,000 troops and a large number of police officers. India’s demand for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council is reasonable because of its population, size, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), economic potential, civilisational legacy, cultural diversity, political system, and past and ongoing contributions to UN activities.
Issues with the UNSC
• Meetings aren’t recorded or written down: The normal UN rules don’t apply to the UNSC, and its meetings aren’t recorded.
There is also no “text” of the meeting to talk about, change, or disagree to.
• Power play in the UNSC: The UNSC’s five regular members’ right to veto is out of date in this day and age.
In its current state, the UNSC makes it hard to understand how things change and move around the world in terms of human security and peace.
• Differences among the P5: The UN’s members are very divided, so choices are either not made or not taken seriously.
The UNSC P-5 can’t make important choices because they often disagree.
o When the coronavirus outbreak started, the UN, the UNSC, and the WHO were not able to help countries deal with the spread of the virus in a good way.
• An Organisation with Too Few Members: It’s a problem that India, Germany, Brazil, and South Africa aren’t on the UN Security Council.
Way Forward
• Imbalances in power between the P5 and the rest of the world need to be fixed as soon as possible.
• Also, the Security Council needs to be reformed by adding more permanent and non-permanent seats. This will help the UN body deal with the “ever-more-complex and-changing challenges” to keeping international peace and security.
• India, which is currently one of the UNSC’s non-permanent members, can start by writing a statement with a full set of ideas for how to change the UNSC.
It can then talk to other countries that agree with it, like the G4 (India, Germany, Japan, and Brazil), and keep growing its circle of support until it has enough countries to go to the whole UNGA and suggest the resolution, which has a good chance of passing.
