Veto Power or Permanent Seat: India's Stand on UNSC

Recently, France and the UK have backed India for a seat in the United Nations Security Council and it has made headlines since then. The US and Russia have always supported India's candidature in the Security Council. Does it imply India's long dream of being among the five permanent members will come true? Let's have a look at its history.

What is UNSC?

The United Nations consists of six constituents, one of the principal organizations being the United Nations Security Council. UNSC is liable to ensure international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN charter. UNSC is composed of Permanent and Non-Permanent Council members.

The Permanent Members are China, the USA, Russia, the UK, and France. The non-permanent members are elected on a two-year term basis. The non-permanent members during their presidential term have basically procedural powers while permanent members exercise an exclusive power of veto which can be used by any one of the permanent members to prevent any UNSC stance.

India's Current Position in UNSC

India is currently a non-permanent member of the UNSC, and its period will end in December. India presided over the 15 members of the council. India’s main motto during its presidency was based on the 5-S approach namely Samman (Respect), Samvad (Dialogue), Sahyog (Cooperation), Shanti (Peace), and Samriddhi (Property). India had stood firm on its principles of multilateralism, rule of law and a fair and equitable international system.

India has served as a non-permanent member 7 times after independence. Its policies in each term were shaped by the geopolitical arena of that time. India had staked its claim for a permanent seat in UNSC long ago with the support of other developing nations but the pace of development in this matter had always been resiliently slow. Russia and USA have always supported us for the permanent seat and in 2022 now France and UK have backed us too.

As the UK stated ‘We support the creation of new permanent seats for India, Germany, Japan, and Brazil. France also officially said that it supports the candidacy of Germany, Brazil, India, and Japan as permanent members. Though the stand China on this matter is still questionable.

Will a permanent seat ensure veto powers?

China had been and is still against the expansion of permanent seats let alone veto powers. Although, other countries are in favour of our candidature as permanent members their stand on sharing veto powers is not on the same page. France had been relatively speaking on the sensitivity of veto powers as it proposed in 2013 that the permanent members should voluntarily give up and suspend veto powers in case of mass atrocities.

France believes the grant of veto powers is eminently sensitive and is up to the candidates requesting a permanent seat. The USA’s stand is stark in this context. The US ambassador to United Nations Nikki Haley warned that the US is open to India’s candidacy as a permanent member if India does not touch the issue of veto power. The US is neither willing to share nor give up the veto powers. Even Russia has backed India, but it has not been keen on other reforms in the UNSC council especially veto powers. The UK also made it clear that it is not willing to share or give up the veto prowess.

What does it mean for us?

While the permanent seat in UNSC may be something we could expect but access to veto powers is far from reach as of now. Even though four out of five members have backed us, China can always use its veto power as it has been doing in the past. India is essentially vying for status. The status quo accepting our place in UNSC shows the growth character of our presence and strength.

As the status quo will change UN will have to reform or like history repeats other countries will find alternatives to show their dominance. India’s presence along with other G4 countries in the permanent council will show its strength on the table and will enable us to direct more policies of our interest.

Written By Shagun Shukla