India has launched its campaign brochure ahead of elections for five non-permanent members of UNSC.

Practice question for mains:

Q. By any calculus, India will qualify for UNSC permanent seat. Analyse.

India’s agenda for UNSC

The normal process of international governance has been under increasing strain as frictions have increased. Traditional and non-traditional security challenges continue to grow unchecked. India will highlight:

• International terrorism
• UN reforms and Security Council expansion, and
• Streamlining the world body’s peacekeeping operations
• Various technological initiatives

India and UNSC

• India is guaranteed a place in the UNSC as it is the sole candidate for Asia-Pacific but needs two-thirds of the 193-member General Assembly to vote in its favour in a secret ballot scheduled this month in New York.
• While India is expected to sail through with the 129 votes required for the seat, the government is setting its sights on much higher numbers than that ahead of the election.
• In 2010, when India stood for the UNSC seat of 2011-2012, it won 187 of the 190 votes polled.

Streamlining new NORMS

• This will be the eighth time India will occupy a non-permanent UNSC seat, with its last stint in 2011-2012.
• India’s overall objective during this tenure in the UN Security Council will be the achievement of N.O.R.M.S: a New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System.

Non-permanent membership  isn’t a cup of tea

• The government launched its plan for the UNSC seat as far back as 2013, officials said, with a keen eye on 2021, and the year that will mark its 75th year of Independence.
• To our good fortune, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan agreed, in a gesture to our friendship, to step aside for the 2021-22 seats.
• The next big challenge was to pursue the Asia-Pacific grouping nomination without any last-minute contenders being propped up against India.
• While diplomacy between capitals certainly helps, the vote had to be tied down by negotiations on the ground.
• India was able to win a unanimous endorsement from the 55-nation grouping that included both China and Pakistan, in June 2019.

Back2Basics: United Nations Security Council

• The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.
• Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.
• It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
• The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.
• These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
• The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.

Also read:

India’s Bid to United Nations Permanent Seat

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