UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

Prelims level : International Mains level : Important International Institutions, Agencies and Fora- Their Structure, Mandate
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Context:

  • India won non-permanent seat in UN security council for 2021-2022.
  • All 55­ members of Asia Pacific supported India’s bid for Membership to UNSC
  • China and Pakistan both supported our bid for membership.
  • Previously, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Council for the years 1950–1951, 1967–1968, 1972–1973, 1977–1978, 1984–1985, 1991–1992 and most recently in 2011–2012.

What is UNSC:

  • Organ of United Nations Organisation
  • The Security Council is primarily responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Members:

  • It has 15 Members, and each Member has one vote. Under the Charter of the United Nations, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions.
  • Five Permanent Members: China, France, Russian Federation, The United Kingdom, and The United States,and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly (with end of term year):
  • Belgium (2020), Cote d’Ivoire (2019), Dominican Republic (2020), Equatorial Guinea (2019), Germany (2020), Indonesia (2020), Kuwait (2019), Peru (2019), Poland (2019), South Africa (2020).

VETO Power:

  • Role of non-permanent members in the work of the Security Council is limited since right of veto is restricted only to the permanent members in the UNSC.
  • Under the terms stipulated by the UN Charter, the right of veto of the permanent members of the Security Council is restricted, i.e. it does not apply in cases of a procedural nature (related primarily to the functioning of the Security Council itself).

The Regional Groupings in UN are:

  • African Group
  • Asia and the Pacific Group
  • Eastern European Group
  • Latin American and Caribbean States Group (GRULAC)
  • Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
  • UN member not in any voting group

India’s Stand- UNSC:

  • India has been calling for the reform of the UN Security Council along with Brazil, Germany and Japan for long, emphasizing that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.
  • India was among the Founding Members of United Nations.
  • It is the second largest and a one of the largest constant contributors of troops to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions.
  • Today, India has over 8,500 peacekeepers in the field, more than twice as many as the UN’s five big powers combined.
  • India, since long time, has been demanding expansion of UNSC and its inclusion as permanent member in it. It has been a member of UNSC for 7 terms and a member of G-77 and G-4, so permanent membership is a logical extension.
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