India speaks up for developing nations at UN Security Council

Highlighting that the challenges the world is confronted with cannot be dealt with through outdated systems and governing structures, India said that the most urgent need of the hour is to make the United Nations Security Council more representative of developing countries to reflect current geopolitical realities.

At a UNSC briefing on "Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Promote Common Security Through Dialogue and Cooperation", India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj noted, "The most urgent thing therefore for us to do is to make the Security Council more representative of developing countries, so as to reflect current geopolitical realities."

Making a case in point, she questioned, "How do we explain away the fact that the African continent does not have a permanent representation in the Security Council, despite a majority of issues being dealt with by the Council belonging to that region? How can we aspire for common security in Africa when the body denies them representation on a permanent basis."

The Indian envoy stressed that "a truly representative Security Council is the most pressing need of the hour," and cautioned "else, there is a real danger of the United Nations being superseded by other plurilateral and multilateral groupings which are more representative, more transparent and more democratic and, therefore, more effective."

She also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's message at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2020 -- "Reform in the responses, in the processes, in the character of the United Nations is the need of the hour."

Appreciating that the UN has been at the forefront of dealing with many challenges like these, the envoy noted that such efforts however have been partial or intermittent at best, as "we have invariably stopped short of providing effective and durable solutions."

(ANI)