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External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has described the United Nations as "largely irrelevant" to decision-making on major global issues, citing a "gridlock" in the UN Security Council and calling for reforms to make the world body more representative.
Speaking during a discussion at the 5th Kautilya Economic Conclave in the national capital on Monday, Jaishankar said the UN's effectiveness had been affected by the inability of the Security Council to reach decisions on major international crises. "Where the UN is concerned, it's obvious to everybody by now that the UN is gridlocked, that if you look at the big issues of the day, whether you look at the conflict in the Gulf, whether you look at the conflict in Ukraine, whether you look at other issues in Africa, or whether you look at COVID, actually the United Nations has been largely irrelevant to the decision-making," Jaishankar said. He attributed much of the problem to the deadlock in the Security Council, while also arguing that its composition no longer reflects the wider international community. "And a lot of it is because the Security Council is gridlocked and the Security Council no longer represents the entirety of the global interest. The UN started with 51 members; it's got almost four times that number today. So, if you have grown four times and you want to keep the old board of management, it's not going to work. It's common sense," he added. Jaishankar also said some countries were resisting reform of the UN while invoking Africa's interests, despite what he described as a clear African position on the issue. "Now, the problem is there are a few players, a few countries who are resistant to the reform of the UN, and they are using the name of Africa. They're using Africa's interest as an argument to block the reform of the UN. And the irony is Africa actually now has a clear position. Africa has actually come to the intergovernmental negotiations and indicated what they would like to see; they've laid out their position," he said. The External Affairs Minister stressed that the objective should be to reform the UN rather than bypass it, while acknowledging the organisation's role in international affairs. "We need to see whether we will continue to watch, in a sense, the irrelevance or, I would say, ineffectiveness of the UN. And it's an important question because we need the UN. The UN has done a big service to the international community. Our job must be to fix the UN, not to work around the UN; the UN itself has to help with that process," Jaishankar said. India is actively advocating for reforms to the UN Security Council as part of its broader push for comprehensive reforms of the United Nations. New Delhi has engaged in intergovernmental negotiations on reforms of the UNSC and has been working with other countries through the G4 grouping of India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, as well as the L.69 Group, a cross-regional grouping of developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America, to build support among UN member states for expanding the Security Council. India has also been engaging with countries of the Global South as part of its efforts on UNSC reform. Reforming the Security Council would require amendments to the UN Charter. (ANI)
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