Statement by India

Report of the Security Council for 2019 

United Nations General Assembly 

Mr. President, 

We welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate on the Report of the Security Council. We thank the members of the Security Council and the Secretariat for producing the annual report of the Security Council, as contained in document A/74/2. 

2. As we enter the Security Council for the term 2021-22, we look forward to working in a constructive and positive manner with all Members of the Council. India also thanks the outgoing Members Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa and commends them for the outstanding contributions. We would also like to congratulate the PR of Indonesia and the Indonesian delegation for handling in a very professional manner in what was an extremely busy August Presidency. 

Mr. President, 

3. We would like to commend the Russian delegation for taking the lead in the preparation of this report. We appreciate the fact that the report is being presented earlier this year despite limitations imposed on the working of the Council because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as we have been saying in the past, we note that the present report too continues to be a statistical compilation of events, a bland summary and listing of meetings and outcome documents. Even among the summary, there is lack of consistency and, one might even venture to say, a few inaccuracies. The membership of the General Assembly has repeatedly requested the Council that the annual report be more incisive rather than a mere narration of the meetings of the Security Council. 

4. It is important that the Security Council pay more attention to its report to the General Assembly rather than view it as a mere formality. There is a need to reinvigorate this interaction between the most representative organ of the United Nations and its most empowered brethren. The UN Charter itself bestows on the report a profound seriousness as is evident from the fact that there exists a separate provision mandating such a report, rather than clubbing it with the provision for reports from other UN bodies. Hence, the annual report of the Security Council must inform, highlight and analyze the measures that it has decided upon or taken to maintain international peace and security during the reporting period.

Mr. President, 

There is a delegation that repeatedly attempts to rebrand itself as contributing to international peace, but unfortunately fails to recognize that it is globally known for being the fountainhead of international terror and the hub for terror syndicates. This delegation keeps pushing for discussions on an outdated agenda item in the Council, which for all matter needs to be removed from the Council’s agenda permanently. Such irrational exuberance has no takers in a dignified world. 

Mr. President, 

5. The annual report is also short of analysis on the UN peacekeeping operations, the flagship tool for the maintenance of international peace and security. This was flagged by my delegation last year too, but we are a little disappointed that the situation continues. There is little information on how peacekeeping operations are run, the problems they face, on why certain mandates are set or changed, or on when and why they are strengthened, scaled down or ended. As most peacekeepers are contributed by non-Council members, who put the lives of their troops at risk to serve the cause of international peace, a better partnership between the Security Council and the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) is needed.

Mr. President, 

6. Most of us who have voiced our opinion here today will be dissatisfied with the Council’s work and its report, but, under the terms of Article 12 of the Charter, the General Assembly can neither replicate its discussions nor compensate for its shortcomings. Many of the flaws in the functioning of the Council are structural. Its composition is demonstrably out of touch with ground realities. The Council neither reflects nor represents the aspirations and views of the larger membership. Like most others, we remain convinced that the only remedy is a comprehensive reform of the Security Council, involving expansion in its permanent and non-permanent categories.

7. Since performance assessment has become one of the focus areas at the United Nations, the Security Council too needs to prove its credibility and improve its performance.

8. We hope that views and comments expressed by the Member States are given serious consideration by the Security Council.

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