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Fresh Indian bid to enter UN Council
India, with Brazil, S Africa and some key African nations, tables a fresh resolution in UN Gen Assembly, reports Nagendar Sharma.
Breathing new life into its initiative to secure a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, India, along with Brazil, South Africa and some key African nations, has tabled a fresh resolution in the UN General Assembly.
Indian diplomats said the new venture runs parallel to New Delhi’s G-4 efforts (with Japan, Germany and Brazil) and has already received support from Berlin at the General Assembly in New York.
The formal resolution on behalf of the India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) Forum, tabled on Tuesday in the General Assembly, calls for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. It urges greater representation of developing countries in the Council and reform in its methods of working. However, it doesn’t specify anything in terms of numbers.
Indian officials say the formal tabling of the resolution paves the way for discussions, which are likely to take place after October 3, but during the next UNGA session.
The support from African nations prompted India to enter the race for permanent membership of the Security Council once again, this time with Brazil and South Africa, which has dropped its earlier hesitation in seeking a permanent seat.
India’s permanent representative to the UN Nirupam Sen said on Thursday that the IBSA resolution had been supported by at least 10 African nations. “For the first time, we have been able to get the support of African countries, with whom India has enjoyed good relations for decades now. But earlier, they were hesitant to support us on a world platform,” Sen said from New York.
The IBSA resolution has been co-sponsored by Nigeria, Congo, Benin, Burundi and Mauritius along with some other African countries, Nirupam Sen said. Indian officials say at least 25 nations have already agreed to support IBSA in its attempt to seek UN reforms.
Describing the African support as historic, Sen said, “Such a beginning gives us confidence to approach the 53-nation African Union now. We are now concentrating on Latin America and eastern Europe”.
This bid comes two years after a failed attempt in 2005, when India had teamed up with Japan, Germany and Brazil. But this was stymied by US and China. The Indian camp is projecting the African support as a major step forward, which can check the practice of powerful nations to elect non-permanent members on the basis of rotation.
