- Reformed UNSC permanent members need equal rights.
India has called for comprehensive reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), arguing that the veto power exercised by its five permanent members must be used with restraint and not as a tool for “narrow political expediency”.
Addressing the United Nations, India’s Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said limiting the veto alone would not address the Council’s structural inequalities. He called for negotiations on all key areas of reform to begin early, with clearly defined timelines and milestones.
India also highlighted how the use of vetoes and informal mechanisms to block decisions has affected the Council’s credibility, reiterating that all permanent members of a reformed UNSC must enjoy equal rights and responsibilities.
India Questions Record Of UNSC Veto Use
Harish said the veto power, currently reserved for the five permanent members, comes with significant responsibility, particularly on matters concerning international peace and security.
“India has always maintained that the veto, which is right now a prerogative only of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, is a responsibility that must be exercised with great restraint, especially on matters bearing upon the maintenance of international peace and security. It should not be an instrument of narrow political expediency,” he said.
Citing the historical record, the Indian envoy said the veto had been exercised 331 times on around 200 resolutions over the course of the United Nations’ existence. He noted that two of the five permanent members had not exercised a veto for more than three and a half decades, while most vetoes or threats to use the power had come from just three members.
Harish also questioned the effectiveness of accountability measures introduced in 2022. The initiative requires the UN General Assembly to hold a debate whenever a veto is cast.
“The Veto Initiative of 2022 was seen as a harbinger of change, by mandating a UNGA debate every time a veto is cast, to fix accountability. However, the actual record of the large number of vetos cast since the UNGAR 76/262 was adopted tells a contrary story,” he said.
India Wants Negotiations On All UNSC Reform Areas
Harish argued that veto reform cannot be pursued separately from other changes needed to make the Security Council more representative and effective.
He called for simultaneous progress on five areas: categories of membership, regional representation, the Council’s size, its working methods and the question of the veto.
“Limiting the veto cannot be separated from the questions of categories of membership, regional representation, size and working methods. We need to move forward on all five clusters together. India reiterates its call for a comprehensive approach towards Security Council reforms. The starting point is early commencement of text-based negotiations, with clearly defined timelines and milestones. Addressing the veto in isolation does not change the decision-making dynamic of the P5,” he said.
India’s position is that reform discussions must address the Council’s broader decision-making structure rather than focus exclusively on the powers of its five permanent members.
India Flags ‘De Facto Veto’ In Council Decisions
The Indian envoy also drew attention to what he described as an “effective or de facto veto”, which can emerge when consensus is required for decisions even if no formal veto is cast.
He said a single Council member can block presidential statements, press statements and decisions of sanctions committees under the unwritten consensus rule, often without providing an explanation.
“The veto is not only what is cast in the open. There is also the ‘effective or de facto veto’ that every Council member, elected and non-elected, holds over presidential statements, press statements and the decisions of sanctions committees, where the unwritten rule of consensus allows a single member to hold or block a proposal, most often without explanation,” Harish said.
He argued that these informal blocking mechanisms also need to be considered in discussions on improving the Council’s functioning.
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India Opposes Separate Tiers Of Permanent Membership
Reaffirming India’s alignment with the Common African Position on Security Council reform, Harish said all permanent members of an expanded Council should have the same rights and responsibilities for as long as the veto continues to exist.
India opposed creating a separate category of permanent members, whether or not they are granted veto powers, saying such an arrangement would risk deepening existing inequalities.
“India’s position on the veto is principled and well known. It is aligned with the Common African Position. We reiterate that as long as the veto exists, it must be held by all permanent members of a reformed Council. Fairness and justice demand that all permanent members enjoy the same rights and responsibilities,” he said.
“A new category of permanent members, with or without the veto, would only further complicate a discussion that is already difficult, and would further entrench the very inequity we are seeking to correct. Periodic elections and the concept of permanency are fundamentally contradictory,” Harish added.
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