 |
| Image: Flickr User - Narendra Modi |
By Harsh V. Pant
India’s obsession with the United Nations needs to change if it is to be taken seriously as a rising power.
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy selling India like a master salesman in the United States, he found time to host the G4 summit with the leaders of Brazil, Germany, and Japan — the four countries that have taken the lead in for pressing for United Nations (UN) Security Council reforms. This summit was the first since 2004 and brought together Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
At the summit, Modi emphatically underscored that the UN Security Council “must include the world’s largest democracies, major locomotives of the global economy, and voices from all the major continents” to carry “greater credibility and legitimacy.” He said the four countries are ready to assume global responsibilities as he pressed for change, saying the world body reflects the mindset of a century “we left behind” and is not in tune with “new concerns” like terrorism and climate change. Having the four states in the Security Council, Modi argued would make the organization more representative and effective in addressing the challenges of the 21st century. In their joint statement too, the G4 leaders stressed that “a more representative, legitimate and effective Security Council is needed more than ever to address the global conflicts and crises, which had spiraled in recent years.” They strongly emphasized that the process underway in the UN to bring about the reform of the Security Council should be conducted, given its urgency, in a fixed time frame.
The G4 has made it clear that they want the reforms in Security Council membership to take place during this year. And from the way Modi has been canvassing with countries big and small for their support on UN reforms, he seems serious about investing significant political capital on this issue. Yet the reality remains that UN reforms will not be easy to come by. Even as the UN’s failures have become self-evident over the years, Indian political elites continue to view it as an almost indispensable actor in global politics that needs substantial Indian diplomatic investment. While this fascination with a moribund institution may not have had any cost in the past when India was on the periphery of global politics, a rising India of today cannot afford to cling on to that same old worldview. Yet India continues to expend its precious diplomatic capital on pursuing permanent membership in the Security Council.
Read the full story at The Diplomat