UN not been able to move needle on Security Council reforms: India

United Nations: The UNSC's 80-year-old structure, ill-equipped to address contemporary challenges, has been ineffective in ending human suffering due to raging conflicts across the globe, India has said, as it also called for the financial architecture to evolve to better serve the priorities of developing countries.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, was addressing the informal meeting of the General Assembly, 'Taking Stock of the Pact for the Future - Ministerial Roundtable two: Making Multilateralism Fit for the Future', here Tuesday when he made the remarks regarding the effectiveness of the United Nation's Security Council (UNSC).

"Public perception about the UN has changed adversely in the recent past, primarily due to the Security Council's inability to meaningfully intervene in raging conflicts across different parts of the globe," Parvathaneni said.


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The Security Council has been ineffective in putting an end to human suffering among the affected populations, he added.

"The foundational principle for the establishment of the United Nations - maintenance of international peace and security - has therefore, been called to question," he said.

Parvathaneni's statement came a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday launched India's official campaign for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2028-29 at an event at the world body's headquarters attended by UN Ambassadors, diplomats and officials.

On Tuesday, India said that the underlying reason for inadequacies of the Security Council is evident. "An eighty year old architecture designed for the 1940s is ill-equipped to address contemporary challenges. As a collective, the UN has not been able to move the needle on reforming the Security Council," Parvathaneni said.

Discussions so far have been limited to an endless cycle of prepared statements under the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) framework, with some action remaining largely on paper, he said. "This is untenable and must change."

India noted that the Pact of The Future's action points on the IGN were not drafted by the co-facilitators of the Pact but by the then IGN Co-Chairs. "India had significant reservations with regard to these action points. However, it was India's constructive spirit that encouraged us to go along broadly with the Pact."

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"For India, making multilateralism fit for the future begins with ensuring that global institutions reflect contemporary realities. This underscores the urgent need for comprehensive reform of the Security Council, the revitalisation of the General Assembly, and the stronger role for ECOSOC in advancing sustainable development in its three dimensions - economic, social and environmental," Parvathaneni said.

Established in 1945, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the central platform for fostering debate and innovative thinking, forging consensus on ways forward, and coordinating efforts to achieve internationally agreed goals.

Further, India said the international financial architecture too must also evolve to better serve the needs and priorities of developing countries. "Adequate, affordable and predictable financing remains indispensable for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. International financial institutions (IFIs) should become more representative, responsive and development-oriented, while preserving their mandates," he said.

India said it will continue to support all genuine efforts to implement reforms in global governance institutions, including the UN Security Council and the IFIs. "Our joint endeavor must be to make these institutions fit for purpose, equipped to handle the present and future challenges of humanity," Parvathaneni added.