UNSC requires urgent, comprehensive reforms: India’s MEA

New Delhi: The United Nations requires urgent and comprehensive reforms and emphasised that the Security Council must be reflective of the “aspirations and perspectives of the developing world” that form the majority of UN global membership, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a joint statement.

32 countries including India highlight the urgency needed to push reforms in the UN Security Council in their joint statement. The signatories of the joint statement stated that they reaffirm that adapting the United Nations to contemporary world realities necessarily requires urgent and comprehensive reform of the Security Council, the principal organ for international peace and security.

“We recognize that a resilient world urgently needs reformed and effective multilateralism to deliver solutions for the pressing and evolving challenges of our time, developmental challenges, poverty, climate change, pandemics, global food security, international conflicts and crises, and international terrorism,” the statement reads.

According to the statement, the heads of delegations were convinced of the need to restore faith in effective multilateralism, “we stand united, as a group of pro-reform like-minded States, determined to work towards a more inclusive, responsive and participatory international governance architecture,” the statement reads.

“We further recognize that lack of progress in Security Council reform has serious implications, not only for the continued relevance of global governance institutions but also for global peace and security and delivering on the purposes, principles and promises of the United Nations Charter,” it added.

The head of delegations recognised that a reformed Security Council must better reflect the contemporary United Nations membership, including through enhanced representation of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which comprise approximately 20 per cent of the United Nations’ membership.

An expansion of the Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories, as well as reform in its working methods, is indispensable to making this body more representative, legitimate and effective, delegations reiterated.

“We reaffirm our support for the representation of Africa in line with the Common African Position, as contained in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration,” the statement reads.

The head of delegations affirmed the need for a formal negotiation process, guided by the decision-making modalities and working methods laid out in the Charter of the United Nations and in line with the rules and procedures of the General Assembly.

“We commit to ‘instil new life’ in our efforts during the 77th session of the General Assembly, and urgently call on all Members States of the United Nations to join hands to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council,” the statement added.