UNSC Presidency: India’s Agenda: RSTV - Big Picture

Rajya Sabha TV programs and discussions are very insightful and informative from a UPSC perspective. In this article, we provide a gist of the RSTV Big Picture debate on India assuming the UNSC presidency. This topic is important for the social issues section under the UPSC syllabus.

UNSC Presidency: India’s Agenda:- Download PDF Here

Anchor:

Vishal Dahiya

Participants:

1. Dilip Sinha, Former Permanent Representative, United Nations.
2. Dr. Sreeram Chaulia, Foreign Affairs Expert.

Context:

India has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August and is set to organize key events in three major areas namely maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism.

UNSC:

• According to Article 23 of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council consists of five permanent member states, along with 10 non-permanent members elected to serve a two-year term.

• The five permanent members of the Security Council include China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States of America.

Also read: UNSC Reforms

UNSC Presidency:

• In 1963, the UN Assembly had decided that five of the non-permanent members would be selected from Asian and African nations, one from Eastern Europe, two from Latin American states, and two from Western Europe and other states. 
• Apart from the five permanent members, the UNSC also includes 10 non-permanent members who are each chosen for a two-year term. India has been elected as a non-permanent member on seven occasions in the past and started its eighth stint on January 1 this year. 
• The 10 non-permanent members have to earn election by the UN General Assembly. According to UN rules, the General Assembly “elects each year five non-permanent members” who have to bag two-thirds majority to qualify for the seat.
• The presidency of the UNSC changes hands for a period of one month each between its members following the English alphabetical order of the member states’ names. 
• The presidency passed to India from France and in September 2021, Ireland will take over from India.

Role of UNSC President:

• According to the UNSC’s official website, the presidency derives responsibility from the Provisional Rules of Procedure of the United Nations Security Council as well as UNSC’s practice. The holder of the presidency is considered to be the ‘face’ and spokesperson of the UNSC.
• The President plays an important role in terms of coordination not only amongst the members of the Security Council but also with the UN Secretary-General who acts as the secretary to the President.
• The UNSC president is also authorized to issue both presidential statements (subject to consensus among Council members) and notes, which are used to make declarations of intent that the full Security Council can then pursue.
• Responsibilities of the UNSC president include:
  • Calling meetings of the UN Security Council
  • Appealing to parties in a conflict to “exercise restraint”
  • Reading statements of the UN Security Council to the press
  • Approving provisional agenda (proposed by the secretary-general)
  • Presiding at UNSC meetings and deciding questions relating to policy and overseeing any crisis
• It is a great opportunity for diplomats of India to showcase their diplomatic skills.

India’s Agenda:

• India is set to focus attention on three major areas, maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism.
  • Maritime security: India will stress countering illegal and hostile acts at sea. India is the net provider of maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region and across the Indo-Pacific. There is a concern about the Chinese hegemonic behavior. Although China is a permanent member of the UNSC, the debates will be moved forward by India which would be in favour of the smaller and weaker countries.
  • Peacekeeping: India is a major contributor to peacekeeping. It has sacrificed more than 170 soldiers in UN peacekeeping missions in many decades. India will try to protect the peacekeepers. 
  • Counter-terrorism: It is a major project of India and Mr. T. S Tirumurti (Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations) said that India will try to prevent the measures that will dilute the focus from terrorism.
• India has created its agenda on the basis of its national interests as well as keeping in mind the concerns regarding the ongoing threats to international peace and security.
• Mr.T. S. Tirumurti said that the Security Council will also have its agenda for several important meetings including Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and the Middle East. The Security Council will also be adopting important resolutions on Somalia, Mali, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

India’s Presidency in 2011:

• When India assumed the Presidency in 2011, Syria was the major international controversial issue.
• India got a Presidential statement agreed upon on Syria. Presidential statements are slightly less important than UNSC resolutions but nevertheless, it shows our diplomatic skills.
• Similar skills have been shown this time in the case of maritime security, peace-keeping, and counter-terrorism.

Impact on China:

• The tragedy of the UNSC is that it is built upon power politics. It has been held hostage by the P5 countries through their veto power.
• Hence, it is difficult to pass any resolution which goes against the interests of any permanent member or their allies.
• China will not let pass any resolution against its maritime claims. However, it will not be able to block resolutions on freedom of navigation, piracy, etc.
• Hence, India can use its diplomatic skill to isolate China on most of the issues.

Also read: India – China Relations

Counter-terrorism:

• Any resolution on counter-terrorism is stuck on the issue of the definition of terrorism because a terrorist for one country is a freedom fighter for another.
• The biggest challenge for India is to check the Taliban, a terrorist organization that is on the verge of taking over Afghanistan. 
• Terror financing is another issue which India is going to raise. Though India has raised it on other forums such as G20 and FATF, it is necessary for the UN to take strong measures against terror financing.
• In other parts of the world, Jihadist extremism is rising. It is not only India but other countries also who are going to raise this issue. China also faces extremism in the Xinjiang region, so China may also support such measures.
• Countries like Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan, and Malaysia might try and pose irritants by relativizing everything. India will try to counter this by creating a broader understanding of curbing this menace.
• It should be noted that the UN also operates through regional councils. What happens in the general assembly or UNSC, is delegated to the regional bodies, for example, the African Union.
• India will also emphasize that terrorism is not only promoted by non-state actors but also by countries that support terrorism. This state-sponsored terrorism must be checked.

Effectiveness of security council:

• In spite of being the most powerful body, UNSC has been quite ineffective in the last decades. For example, UNSC resolutions on Syria and Yemen have been vetoed.
• The last authorized military action was eight years ago.
• The last authorized peacekeeping action was seven years ago.
• The last economic sanction imposed by the UNSC was five years ago on the Central African Republic.
• Even peacekeeping action has become a controversial issue among the P5. 
• Hence, India has to maneuver through a tough path where P5 nations zealously protect their interests by using Veto.
• Now, a resolution on Afghanistan will be tabled in the future. Afghanistan is falling into civil war and 30,000 people are fleeing Afghanistan daily. It will create humanitarian issues in neighbouring countries. Hence, it is important for the UN to prevent this crisis and for this a resolution by the UNSC is necessary.

Way forward:

• India should keep pressing for UNSC reform which includes expansion of permanent members.
• However, at the same time, India should be mindful of the reality which is that many countries oppose India’s candidature for the security council.
• UNSC’s presidency is in India’s hands and the presidency of the UN general assembly is in the hands of the Maldives, a close ally of India. India can use this to focus on institutional reforms of various UN bodies.
• During the presidency of UNSC, India can also act as a bridge between western permanent members (the USA, UK, and France) and Russia and China and strive to have a common ground to deal with the issues in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Yemen, or any other place where peace and stability have been threatened.

Read all the RSTV articles in the link.