Once again, India has raised her voice against the existing structure of the Security Council as inadequate and unfair. In a 15-member structure only 5- Bigs are permanent members and the remaining ten are temporary ones and are replaced through an intermittent electoral process. The point is that Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia are not represented or inadequately represented. India, Brazil, Germany and South Africa have staked claim to permanent seat on the Security Council. India with nearly one fourth of world’s population has all the justification to be a member of the SC. Outlining the Security Council’s monthly agenda, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters in New York that the existing structure of the UN Security Council was outdated and did not go in tune with the realities of contemporary world. Five permanent members of the Security Council enjoy veto power. India is of opinion that there should be a broad discussion on the conditions and circumstances in which veto should be used.
By and large there is a general thinking that there is much weight in the demand for restructuring of the Security Council yet the organization remains polarized and politicised in a big way. China and Pakistan are leaving no stone unturned to frustrate India’s effort to grab a permanent seat. India has made it sufficiently clear that by asking for expansion of permanent membership of SC she does not mean to take away any powers from existing permanent members. She would rather help in making more equitable and pragmatic decisions at the high level. Reflecting on a question about Pakistan seeking permanent membership on the Security Council, the Indian Representative said that India did not object to any country interested in seeking membership provided it has support of majority of members in the General Assembly. In short though there is much hesitation at the level of SC to see that no expansionist reform is made, yet the pressure from international community is mounting for the reforms. Obviously reforming the structure cannot wait long.
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