Bush open to expansion of UN Security Council

By: N.Arun Kumar Singh

US President George W Bush said he is willing to consider expanding the UN Security Council and pressed for Japan, a close American ally, to get a permanent seat on the panel."The United States is open to this prospect," Bush said in an address to the UN General Assembly. "We believe that Japan is well-qualified for permanent membership on the Security Council and that other nations should be considered as well." The 15-member Security Council, the most powerful UN body, which can make mandatory decisions on war and peace, has five veto-bearing permanent members named when the United Nations was created in 1945. The permanent members are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Ten other countries rotate for two-year terms according to regions. A majority of UN members believe the Security Council is unrepresentative and dominated by industrial nations. The United States for years has backed Japan for a spot but does not want the council expanded by more than a few seats. However, UN members, including those on the current Security Council, would reject advocating a place for Japan without including any developing nations, such as India. "The United States will listen to all good ideas and we will support changes to the Security Council as part of broader UN reform," Bush said. An April UN report proposed a series of options for transitional reform that could include adding temporary seats, semi-permanent seats and other variations short of a permanent set-up. A permanent UN Security Council seat for India India’s demand for a UN Security Council seat is long overdue and many major nations have voiced support. Expansion of the UN Security Council has been given prominence but certainly not at the cost of the current P5 members. Diplomats and analysts tend to refer to the current P5 members led by US, Russia, France, China and Britain fear losing their ‘hegemony’ within the Security Council. The rich and the powerful P5 members along with a few developing countries oppose Security Council reforms. Our immediate neighbour may feel a permanent seat for India is against its’ own interest and hence bitter obstacles may be mounted to stall reforms. Great Britain, Russia and France voiced unequivocal support for India’s place within the Security Council. The United States and China are adopting ambiguous stands and are allegedly interested in putting things at the backburner. Regardless of the obstacles, it is remarkable that the drive to reform and expand the Council has made greater headway with IBSA - India, Brazil and South Africa. The idea of co-operating with Japan and Germany is significant but a low-key affair. Democratisation of the core UN organ is itself the need of the hour. Reforms in the UN Security Council should be ‘all-inclusive’ and India by its sheer size of land- mass, population and economy makes itself a natural choice to be a Permanent UN Security Council member.