December 14, 2022
3 mins read

High-level ministerial meeting to push UNSC reforms

India is using its prerogative as the president of the Council, in the last month of its two-year elected membership, to take the long-delayed and contentious issue right to its chamber…write Arul Louis

Indias External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will preside over a high-level ministerial meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday to push for reforming the body to take on the “multidimensional crises” staring at the world.

Preparing for the meeting, he met on Tuesday with General Assembly President Csaba Korosi and Japan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yamada Kenji.

After their meeting, both Korosi and Jaishankar tweeted that UN reforms figured in their talks.

Japan is a member of G4, the group of countries that includes India, Brazil and Japan, which lobby together for Council reforms and support each other for permanent seats on an expanded Council.

India is using its prerogative as the president of the Council, in the last month of its two-year elected membership, to take the long-delayed and contentious issue right to its chamber.

A noted from India’s Permanent Mission to the Council said: “The multidimensional crises facing the world today demand a representative multilateral architecture that is reflective of contemporary global realities and is well equipped to meet the emerging challenges.”

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Csaba will brief the meeting on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism” with ministers or senior diplomats from Council members participating.

Before the Council meeting, Jaishankar will join Guterres and Csaba in unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at UN headquarters.

On Thursday, Jaishankar will preside over another signature event that will highlight another top issue for India, counter-terrorism.

India will seek at the meeting to “consensus amongst Council Members on the broad principles of a global counter-terror architecture and aim to further build upon the Delhi Declaration” adopted in October in New Delhi at a special meeting of the Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee that India heads, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

As the country that has contributed the most number of peacekeepers to the UN, India has a commitment to their safety and Jaishankar will be setting up a multinational group to demand action against those attacking peacekeepers.

Jaishankar is to launch the Group of Friends for Accountability for Crimes Against Peacekeepers along with Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Morocco and Nepal as co-chairs.

India is promoting the “International Year of Millets, 2023” to propagate the use of the healthy foodgrain for nutritious diets.

To put a spotlight on it, Jaishankar will host a millet-based luncheon for Guterres.

At the Council meeting on reforms, India will raise the question, “What are the steps that are required to ensure that the Security Council reflects the contemporary global realities, which would make it more effective in discharging its primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security”, according to the Indian mission’s note.

The note pointed out that since the UN was formed 75 years ago with 55 members, the number has risen to 193, but the organisation has not kept pace with the changing world and the last change in Council composition was in 1965, although without a change in the permanent membership.

Even though world leaders have repeatedly called for reforms since their millennial summit in 2005, there has been little progress and even a negotiating text to move the reform discussions forward has not been adopted, it said.

The discussions will also take up the need for reforms in other bodies of the UN and other international organisations.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

ALSO READ: US keeps close watch on India-China border situation

Previous Story

‘Food and cooking never fail to fascinate me’

Next Story

Deepan sets theatre closer to a football match

Latest from -Top News

Pak Army Chief Targets India Again

This is not the first time that Munir has indulged in loose talk, exhibiting conduct unbecoming an officer….reports Asian Lite News Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir on

Relief for Students: US Visa Cancellations Paused

More than 1,500 student visas have been cancelled so far…reports Asian Lite News The United States on Friday abruptly paused the cancellation of student visas issued to international students, according to reports.

Yunus Must Be Treated Like Hasina, Warn Islamists

Islamist group made these warnings to the interim government, terming the women’s reform body proposals as “anti-Islamic…reports Asian Lite News The radical Islamist group in Bangladesh, Hefazat-e-Islam, has issued a threat, stating

UN: Bring Pahalgam Terrorists to Justice

The members of the Security Council “stressed that those responsible for these killings should be held accountable..reports Asian Lite News The Security Council has “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pahalgam terrorist
Go toTop

Don't Miss

UAE urges UNSC to peacefully resolve conflicts

Al Marar spoke to the Council during an open debate

Zelensky speaks to Modi seeking political support at UNSC

The Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet on