Security Council has become ‘impaired’ organ of UN: India

United Nations, November 17

A handful of countries are using the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) as a “smoke-screen” and stopping progress on reforming the Security Council, which has become “impaired”, India has said, asserting that it is time for a “decisive movement” to achieve the long-delayed reform of the powerful UN body.

Delhi slams Pak for ‘irresponsible’ remarks

India has slammed Pakistan for making ‘irrelevant and irresponsible’ remarks in the UN, saying the General Assembly is a forum for serious debate, not frivolous allegations. Pakistan’s Ambassador to UN Munir Akram made references to the LoC as he voiced opposition to India’s UNSC membership. “I don’t wish to waste the time of this Assembly by responding to the irresponsible remarks by the representative of Pak, which becomes ‘Pavlovian’ whenever India is mentioned,” India’s envoy TS Tirumurti said. PTI

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, speaking in the UN General Assembly on “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council”, lamented that nothing has moved for more than a decade in the IGN except hearing passionate statements on the need for reform.

“Today’s Security Council is an impaired organ. It has been unable to act with credibility essentially due to its unrepresentative nature. But then, what is happening inside the IGN process, which we seem to be wedded to?” Tirumurti said on Monday.

Criticising the absence of even a single negotiating text, Tirumurti said the IGN had become like a “platform for debate in a university rather than a serious result-oriented process in the United Nations consisting of sovereign member states”.

“And why have we come to this pass? Because just a handful of countries don’t want us to proceed. The conditions they are laying out are impossible to fulfill. Ironically, this is happening at a time when we were in a tearing hurry last week to give ourselves e-voting rights. But for IGN, they want no voting, leave alone e-voting, but only full consensus!” he said.

Asserting that there is a need for a decisive movement this year in the UNSC reform process, Tirumurti said: “Without decisive movement, I feel that those who support real reform and who wish to deliver on the commitment made by our leaders will be forced to look beyond the IGN, maybe to this very Assembly, for results. If that happens, we must not hesitate in taking a relook at the IGN process itself.”

He said since there had been no progress for a decade, the IGN had not only been informal, but had no rules of procedure or records, forcing nations to keep their own notes and placing a tremendous burden on all small and medium states.

India will join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 1. — PTI