According to India, the de facto veto that is impeding the reform process should be lifted before the Security Council’s five permanent members’ monopoly on veto power is altered.
According to P Harish, India’s Permanent Representative, “the consensus argument has effectively become a disguised de facto veto” in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) reform process.
During a meeting on the Council veto, he informed the General Assembly, “This approach is blocking progress [and] consequently, no concrete outcomes could be achieved under the IGN framework for Security Council reform.”
The obstinacy of a few members has prevented the approval of a negotiating document that would advance the process for 17 years, obstructing the Council’s reform negotiations on everything from permanent membership expansion to veto power.
The Italian-led group, known as Uniting for Consensus (UfC), which includes Pakistan, has rejected the approval of a negotiation document until change is agreed upon.
There is no way to reach a consensus in the first place without a negotiation document that establishes the agenda and the topics for debate.
The resolution establishing the IGN, according to Harish, “spelt out that the guiding principle for member states in their endeavors towards a solution is the widest possible political acceptance and not consensus.”
He cited the 2022 Assembly resolution on the subject and stated that it had not prevented permanent members from exercising their veto power.
He emphasized that it does not address the veto issue in its entirety.
The resolution calls on the permanent members using a veto to appear before the Assembly within ten days to explain their decision in an effort to reduce the usage of vetoes.
“The veto has been exercised on 20 occasions since the resolution was adopted,” according to Harish.
The UN has been unable to address significant topics like the war in Ukraine and the Gaza conflict for the past two years until this week due to vetoes in the Council.
Annalena Braerbock, the president of the Assembly, “Inaction, or the use of the veto in the Council, means real people, watching in real time, may question the credibility and legitimacy of not only the Security Council, but of the UN in its entirety” .
According to Harish, a piecemeal approach to Council reforms will not succeed because the Assembly’s attempt to limit the use of vetoes failed.
He stated, “India, therefore, reiterates its call for a comprehensive approach towards Security Council reforms.”
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