India stated firmly that if the UN Security Council is reformed and new permanent members are added, it is mandatory that they too be granted veto power.
It also criticized the creation of a new category of permanent membership without veto power as equivalent to second-class status.
At present, the UN Security Council has five permanent members— the United States, China, France, Russia, and Britain— and 10 non-permanent members elected on a rotational basis for two-year terms.
Since veto power has been granted only to permanent members, they can unilaterally block resolutions brought before the U.N. Security Council. For this reason, India has been insisting for many years that it be granted permanent membership status and that various reforms be carried out in the U.N. Security Council.
In this context, during the debate held in the UN General Assembly on Monday regarding veto power, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, said: If the UN Security Council is reformed and new permanent members are added, they too should be granted veto power. This has been India’s long-standing position. Creating a category of permanent members without veto power is equivalent to treating those countries as second-class. As a result, no change can be made to the decisions taken by the five countries that are already permanent members.
History has taught us this lesson: in 1965, the number of non-permanent members of the UN Security Council was increased from 6 to 10. However, the number of permanent members was retained. As a result, the decision-making power of the permanent members continued as usual. Therefore, adding new permanent members without veto power will not be effective. This is the lesson history has taught us.
At the same time, permanent members should use the veto power only for matters related to international peace and security. That power should not be used for narrow political objectives.
The credibility and effectiveness of the UN Security Council should not depend on the veto power. He said its functioning should be such that it addresses present-day problems rather than being based on wars that took place 80 years ago.
Contest in next year’s election: India has served eight times as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council—in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, 2011-12, and 2021-22.
In this situation, India and Tajikistan will compete for the non-permanent seat allocated to Asian-Pacific countries for 2028-29. The election for this will be held in June 2027.