United Nations: India has underlined the
need to speed up reform in the "working methods" of the UN
Security Council and make it more accessible to the non-member
countries, even as it asked for better coordination with
nations who contribute troops for peacekeeping operations.
Pitching for the expansion of Security Council to
include permanent and non-permanent members, its envoy to the
UN Hardeep Singh Puri said, "India associates itself with the
growing clamour for early reform of working methods of the
Council.
The Council will render great service to the
cause of maintaining international peace and security by
deepening and enriching its consultations with troop and
police contributing countries in the devising, revision and
implementation of mandates of the UN`s peacekeeping and
peace-building missions," he added.
The Indian ambassador also made general
recommendations to make the Council more accessible to
non-Council members by meeting in open sessions and granting
these nations the right to participate, and also pointed out
that implementation of reforms to the Council had been slow.
"We must acknowledge that real progress has been
minimal, despite years of efforts. Some permanent members
continue to argue that reform of working methods cannot be
discussed by non-Members," Puri said.
"And there appears to be little appetite for the
far-reaching reforms that the large majority is demanding."
Meanwhile,India has also been pushing for the
expansion of the Council`s composition in permanent and
non-permanent categories.
"Till there is a change in the real power structure
of the Council its permanent membership, we cannot
realistically expect the deep-seated changes that the large
majority seeks," Puri said.
In 2006, India decided to run for a Security
Council seat and has been canvassing for the spot for the past
three years. Earlier this year, Kazakhstan withdrew from the
electoral race leaving with India with a clean slate for
2010-11.
India`s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the
Security Council has also been endorsed by the Asian Group in
the UN General Assembly. Nineteen countries including Nepal,
Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh spoke in favour of
giving Indian a spot on the Security Council table starting
Jan 2011 at a meeting in New York.
The Security Council is made up of 15 states-
five permanent members who have the veto power and 15
non-permanent seats elected for a two-year term.
To win, India needs two-thirds of the General
Assembly vote, which adds up to about 128 counties saying yes
to India’s presence in the Security Council.
The last time India had a seat at the Council was
in 1992. In 1996, Japan won with India trailing behind with
approximately 40 votes.
Last year, the General Assembly elected Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to serve as
non-permanent members.
Bureau Report
