India at UNSC

Prakhar Swaroop, MBA-IT I Sem

India, a founding member of the United Nations, is returning to the Security Council as a non permanent member. The last term for India at the UNSC ended 19 years ago in 1992. India won this seat recently after getting an overwhelming majority in the voting done for the four non permanent seats at the UNSC. India received a whopping 187 votes out of 191 member states, showing the growing influence it holds at the world stage and also strengthening its campaign for a permanent seat at the UNSC. One member state abstained from voting while 3 other voted against India. The number of votes received by India this year is its highest so far and the highest received by any country in the last five years. Indian envoy to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri described this thumping win as a 'ringing endorsement' of the member states of the world body.

Having won this coveted seat, India will be under high scrutiny of the world, specially the countries that have voted for it. The visibility with which the decisions and policies are going to be seen and analysed is going to be very high. It is also going to be a test of the effectiveness of India's diplomatic skills and capacity.

When India last served at the UNSC till 1992, it was one of the weakest countries holding the non permanent seats. But in these 19 years, the world has changed a lot and also India has evolved manifolds as a world power and also a driving contributor to the world economy. It is in a position where it can differ in opinion with countries like US and UK. India has already taken stands that are against influential western countries at the WTO summits and at other world stages. Issues like the Arab-Israel conflict and Iran's nuclear program are a few examples where India has maintained a separate stand than most western countries. India is finally in a position where it can see the US eye to eye while drafting policies. Washington's view of this is stated by ex-US ambassador to South Asia, Ashley Wills as, 'What matters to US is not that India votes with the US but that India defends its positions well. Then its stature will increase'.

There are a few alliances India is part of at the UNSC that are going to strengthen its cause for the permanent membership and also will prove supportive in the making of policies that will directly affect the development of fast growing economies like India. These are BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BSIC (Brazil, South Africa, India and China). All these sets work together in matters of economic and political importance. There is going to be a test of the internal coherence of these groups when they are taking diplomatic decisions at the UNSC.

But the most important alliance is the G4, of which India is a part. It consists of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan. These are the countries demanding for the expansion of the permanent seats of the UNSC and also pushing for the almost forgotten UN reforms. Interestingly, three out of these four countries are on the UNSC together which gives a three-fold boost to the seats expansion campaign and gives strength to the opinions of these three countries. When India joined G4 years ago, it was the weakest of the four. But now it is the strongest contender and the leader of the alliance. India has also found a new ally in Portugal at the UNSC.

The picture that is portrayed by all these alliances at the UNSC is that India will have strong backing to the opinions and policies it follows. Also, this is going to give the diplomats a new found confidence while dealing with matters of international importance and standing up to the dominance of the influential permanent members. These two years will be deciding India's role at the world stage in future.