{"id":313558,"date":"2019-06-22T08:10:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-22T08:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=313558"},"modified":"2019-06-22T09:05:54","modified_gmt":"2019-06-22T09:05:54","slug":"india-eyes-permanent-unsc-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/india-eyes-permanent-unsc-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"India eyes permanent UNSC seat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>At present, there are five permanent members of the Security Council \u2014 China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US \u2014 which all have veto powers to cast aside any resolution which could compromise world stability and security.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How serious India is to gain UN Permanent Membership would be clear from the fact that the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for renewed efforts by India to gain permanent membership of the UN Security Council. India, an important global power with 1.3 billion people has been calling for reform of the UNSC for quite some time, along with Brazil, Germany, and Japan. It argues that the country has earned the right to contribute to the world\u2019s security.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is what Vice-President of India said \u201cThe world needs India because the problems and challenges facing the planet today need a humane, holistic \u00a0vision,\u201d Naidu stressed. \u201cThe world needs India because it needs a voice that speaks of peace, non-violence and peaceful coexistence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet despite calls to reform the UNSC, any changes to the composition of the chamber would require at least two-thirds approval from members of the General Assembly. Furthermore, all permanent members must consent to any expansion of the council to include new veto-yielding states.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interacting with the Officer Trainees of the 2018 Batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Bhutanese Diplomats, the Vice President referred to the growing prominence of India on the world stage and underscored the need for \u00a0enhancing support from world nations and building a sustained dialogue in favor of UNSC reforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vice President also stressed the need to build a consensus for expansion and democratization of a number of multilateral fora to ensure representation to a number of other emerging nations. Congratulating the young officers for choosing IFS as a profession,\u00a0 Naidu said that the Service offered a challenging and exciting career and a unique opportunity to take India\u2019s great civilizational and cultural ethos with its developmental aspirations to the rest of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Terming the young diplomats as \u2018future spokespersons, interpreters, and narrators of India\u2019s story to the world\u2019, the Vice President said that they would soon work on constructing new bridges of understanding between India and the rest of the world. He told \u2018You can play an important role in shaping the geopolitics of the future and in determining the new world order.\u2019 Naidu cautioned that the return of the unwelcome tendency of protectionism would adversely impact the global effort for collective advancement. Despite the acknowledged need for an Integrated World Order, new walls are being to the free flow of goods and services and people as well, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outlining the challenges the budding diplomats would have to deal with, Naidu expressed his concern over the threat posed by terrorism. Observing that no country was immune to the consequences of terrorism, he called for a united response from world nations to curb the menace of terrorism. Pointing out that India consistently took an unrelenting and uncompromising stand against terrorism, he said, \u201cwe must continue to be champions of peace\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Referring to the unethical acts of financial fugitives, the Vice President expressed his concern over the ease with which they find safe havens in other countries. He suggested the constant updating and overhauling of Extradition Treaties and all bilateral and multilateral agreements to defend and safeguard the integrated global economic order for the collective good.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vice President said that the world community would need India\u2019s participation to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, because of the problems faced by the planet today needed a humane and holistic vision. The world needs India because it needs a voice that speaks of peace, non-violence and peaceful co-existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Expressing his happiness that India took the lead in building sustainable development solutions, he said the International Solar Alliance launched under India\u2019s initiative in Paris was such an example.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stating that India was moving on the development path swiftly,\u00a0 Naidu said that the world was looking at India with keen interest. He emphasized the need to take advantage of this momentum by capitalizing on opportunities in areas of trade, services, investments, and infrastructure. \u201cDiplomats must be proactive in enabling Indian industries and business to tap into world markets and must do their best in encouraging foreign investment to flow into India\u201d, he stressed.\u00a0 Describing the Indian Diaspora as an asset, he said they play an important role culturally as well as economically in the countries they live in.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vice President urged the young officers to develop a deep understanding of the countries of their posting and explore all opportunities for improving relations between those countries and India. He advised them to uphold the principles of Integrity, Probity, and conscientiousness at all times. He asked them to be India\u2019s articulate voices, proactive catalysts of India\u2019s prosperity and relentless advocates of Indian values of peaceful coexistence, inclusive and sustainable development. The Foreign Service offers you the privilege of being India\u2019s ambassador\u2019s to the world. The Service offers a challenging and exciting career and a truly unique opportunity to take our country\u2019s great civilizational and cultural ethos with its developmental \u00a0aspirations to the rest of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said that the IFS officers would soon be given the crucial responsibility of being all the spokespersons, interpreters and narrators of India\u2019s story to the world. They will construct new bridges of understanding, appreciation and collective advancement between India and the rest of the world and build new, forward-looking and stable partnerships between nations. They can play an important role in shaping the geopolitics of the future and in determining the new world order.<\/span><\/p>\n

Naidu observed that \u201cWe are now living in a world that is more connected than ever before. The world is truly a Global Village. It is also swiftly changing in many unprecedented ways. The changing global geopolitical and geo-economic landscape requires a new <\/span>agile, carefully strategized diplomatic response. I see a number of challenges that budding diplomats such as you would have to deal with and overcome. Despite the acknowledged need for an Integrated World Order, new \u2018walls\u2019 are being erected to the free flow of goods and services and people as well. This return of the unwelcome tendency of protectionism has the potential to adversely impact the global effort for collective advancement\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

He impressed upon them the grave nature of the threat that the world community as a whole faces due to terrorism. No country in the world is immune to the consequences of terrorism now and therefore curbing this menace would require a united response from world nations.\u00a0 India has consistently taken an unrelenting and uncompromising stand against terrorism; we must continue to be champions of peace.\u00a0 We are now confronted by the unethical acts of financial fugitives.\u00a0 The ease with which they find safe havens in other countries escaping the long arm of law is a serious global concern. Extradition Treaties and all bilateral and multilateral agreements need to be constantly updated and overhauled to defend and safeguard the integrated global economic order for collective good.<\/span><\/p>\n

To transform this world into the world we want, in consonance with the United Nations\u2019 transformative, ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world needs India. The world needs India not only because we are home to nearly 1.3 billion people comprising one- sixth of humanity. The world needs India because the problems and challenges facing the planet today need a humane, holistic vision.<\/span><\/p>\n

The world needs India because it needs a voice that speaks of peace, non-violence and peaceful coexistence. The world needs India because it needs to harness the potential of dialogue and discussion, collaboration and cooperation. This vision and voice, this attitude and belief are what India has stood for over the last twenty millennia. This vision and voice of India is more relevant to the world than ever before.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our core civilizational principle of viewing the world as \u2018Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam\u2019 and our prayer of \u2018Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavanthu\u2019 gives us the moral strength and courage to influence global discourse in these testing times of great turbulence. He said that \u201cI am glad to note that India has taken the lead in building sustainable development solutions. International Solar Energy Alliance, launched under India\u2019s initiative at the COP 21 in Paris is one such example. You must continually look for opportunities to provide similar leadership and lead the global agenda setting and implementation in as many fields as possible. Our foreign policy formulation and implementation must be firmly tied to the domestic development agenda. There is a constant need for sustained dialogue and exchange of information between India\u2019s representatives abroad and those who are implementing the development initiatives back home\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

With India moving on the development path swiftly, the world is looking at India with keen interest. The Vice-President said that \u201cWe must not hesitate to take advantage of this momentum by capitalizing opportunities in areas of trade, services, investments, and infrastructure. Diplomats must be proactive in enabling Indian industries and business to tap into world markets and must do their best in encouraging foreign investment to flow into India\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indian Diaspora is a great strength of our nation. Diplomats must continually engage with Diaspora while also safeguarding their interests and looking after their welfare and ensuring that their efforts and goodwill is appreciated and channelized suitably. Just like the world needs India, India needs the world too. We need to learn and draw benefits from the good practices from all over the world. India is strong and is gaining in strength because we are open to good ideas from all over the globe. This is what the ancient sages had also said when they said: \u201cAa no bhadrah kratavo yantu vishwathaha\u201d \u201cLet noble thoughts come to us from all over the world\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

India has emerged as the fastest growing economy with global powers acknowledging India\u2019s growth story.\u00a0 We must renew our efforts to gain a permanent membership of the UN Security Council by further enhancing support from world nations and building a sustained dialogue in favor of UNSC reforms.\u00a0 We have to build consensus for the expansion and democratization of a number of other multilateral fora to ensure representation of a number of other emerging nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, France too supported India and said that India and nations like Germany, Brazil and Japan is \u201cabsolutely needed\u201d as permanent members of a reformed and enlarged UN Security Council these permanent members were needed to better reflect contemporary realities and the addition of these key members to the UN high-table is among France\u2019s \u201cstrategic\u201d priorities, the French envoy to the UN has said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking alongside German envoy to the UN Christoph Heusgen at the end of Germany\u2019s Presidency of the Council for April, Delattre emphasised that France considers that Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and a fair representation of Africa in particular are absolutely needed at the table to get towards fairer representation of the Security Council. This is for us a matter of priority.\u201d He underlined that Paris believes the enlargement of the Security Council with the addition of a few key members is \u201cone of our strategic priorities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

India is at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for the long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasizing that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.<\/span><\/p>\n

India\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, speaking at the informal meeting of the Plenary on the Intergovernmental Negotiations on the question of equitable representation on an increase in the membership of the Security Council earlier this year, had said that on the issue of Categories of Membership\u2019, a total of 113 Member States, out of 122 who submitted their positions in the Framework Document, support expansion in both of the existing categories specified in the Charter. In short, more than 90 per cent of the written submissions in the document are in favour of expansion in both categories of membership specified in the Charter, he had said.<\/span><\/p>\n

letters@tehelka.com<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At present, there are five permanent members of the Security Council \u2014 China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the US \u2014 which all have veto powers to cast aside any resolution which could compromise world stability and security.\u00a0 How serious India is to gain UN Permanent Membership would be clear from the fact that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":313531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[574,10304,11533,11530,5125,11531,11529,11532],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313558"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":313573,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313558\/revisions\/313573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/313531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}