UNSC reform negotiations could continue for another 75 years without headway: India

India has slammed the UN General Assembly’s decision to re-schedule the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Security Council reform to the next UNGA session, terming it a “wasted opportunity to instill a breath of life into a process that has shown no signs of life or growth in over four decades.”

On Tuesday (July 12), the 193-member General Assembly adopted a draft oral decision on Security Council reform, rolling over the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) process to the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, beginning in September.

“We see this technical roll-over decision as yet another wasted opportunity to instill a breath of life into a process that has shown no signs of life or growth in over four decades,” said R Ravindra, Chargé dAffaires at the Permanent Mission of India to the UN Ambassador, while responding to the decision.

He asserted that it is now apparent that in its current form and modalities – that is, without application of the GA Rules of Procedure, without an official record of proceedings, and without a single negotiating text – the IGN could well go on for yet another 75 years without any progress whatsoever in the direction of genuine reform.

Ravindra also stressed that India, as a responsible UN member, will continue to engage in this process alongside its ” reform-minded partners” and persist with its efforts to move from repetitive speeches to text-based negotiations.

New Delhi, however, cautioned that for those of us who truly wish to fulfil our leaders’ commitment to early and comprehensive Security Council reforms, looking beyond the IGN may now provide the only viable pathway.

President of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid said at the plenary meeting that the reform of the Security Council is “warranted and much delayed.”

“It’s been 57 years since the last increase in the membership of the Security Council. The UN membership was then at 113. Today, the UN has 193 Member States, but the Security Council membership is frozen at 15, with no permanent representation for the entire African continent,” Shahid said.

Pointing out that the IGN process is in its 14th year since it began, Shahid said: “We thus have a collective responsibility to demonstrate that the IGN is working and not let the process turn into a Sisyphean exercise.”

The PGA noted that the IGN during the 76th session ended with all member states joining consensus on his oral decision to roll over the text to the next session.

Significantly, Shahid in his remarks made a mention of the gradual movement toward text-based negotiations, a demand that India has repeatedly been making to ensure the UNSC reform process moves forward.

“Going forward, I would encourage all delegations to work tirelessly to further narrow down the divergences and gradually move the process towards text-based negotiations, using the Co-Chairs Elements Paper, along with the Framework Document,” Shahid said.

It is highly significant that Shahid in a letter to the UN Member States on IGN and Draft Oral Decision earlier this month, for the first time since the commencement of the IGN, made a mention of the gradual movement toward text-based negotiations.

Ravindra said India joined the consensus in the adoption of the draft presented simply to acknowledge Shahid’s personal efforts.

“We would like to place on record our appreciation for your efforts to steer this year’s IGN towards some progress,” Ravindra said.

India also appreciated the innovative and proactive approach taken by co-Chair’s Qatar’s Permanent Representative Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani and Permanent Representative of Denmark Martin Bille Hermann, which has resulted in some improvements in the Elements Paper compared to last year, including a greater number of convergences, and some additional attributions.

(With inputs from agencies)