General Assembly General Assembly

75th  Session of the United Nations General Assembly 

 

Agenda Item 127

Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council 

 

INDIA STATEMENT 

by 

Ambassador T S Tirumurti, Permanent Representative 

16 November 2020

 

Mr. President, 

 

We thank you for convening this important debate. You have the support of my delegation for a successful 75th session of the General Assembly.

 

2. India aligns itself with the statements of St Vincent and the Grenadines on behalf of the L.69, and of Brazil for the G.4. We also endorse the statements of Sierra Leone for the African Group and of Barbados for the CARICOM. 

 

3. We welcome the early appointment of the IGN co-chairs and offer our felicitations to Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, Permanent Representative of Poland and Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of Qatar.

 

Mr. President, 

 

4. Today’s Security Council is an impaired organ. It has been unable to act with credibility essentially due to its unrepresentative nature. But then, what is happening inside the IGN process, which we seem to be wedded to?

 

5. Inside the IGN, nothing has moved for more than a decade except hearing passionate statements on the need for reform. In fact, it has not progressed since it is not only informal but it has no rules of procedure and has no records. For a decade it has remained that way. We are forced to keep our own notes placing a tremendous burden on all small and medium states.  The same countries who shed crocodile tears for small and medium states are the same ones denying them even the basic courtesy, which is to help them keep official record of discussions. What happens here has no record and we start again the next year as if nothing has happened. And of course, we don’t even have a single negotiating text. IGN has become like a platform for debate in a University rather than a serious resulted-oriented process in the United Nations consisting of sovereign Member States.

 

6. And why have we come to this pass? That’s because just a handful of countries don’t want us to proceed. They have stopped the IGN from progressing. They are using the IGN as a smoke-screen to stop themselves from being identified by paying lip-service to Security Council reform. The conditions they are laying out are impossible to fulfill – which is full consensus of all Member States. Ironically, this is happening at a time when we were in a tearing hurry last week to give ourselves e-voting rights. But for IGN, they want no voting, leave alone e-voting, but only full consensus! 

 

7. In fact, we are even apprehensive of using the words adopted unanimously by our own leaders in the UN@75 High Level Political Declaration. There is no mention of the words “instill new life in the discussions” on the reform of the UN Security Council in the letter of the PGA which gives the mandate given to the co-facilitators. I hope we have not started distancing ourselves from the UN@75 declaration even before the ink is dry.   

 

8. Talking about leaders, during the General Debate, you heard the chorus of world leaders calling for urgent reform of the multilateral decision making structures, especially the Security Council. Prime Minister Modi, echoing the aspirations of over a billion of my fellow citizens, asked, “When will this reform-process ever reach its logical conclusion?” The question that we are still asking here in IGN today is “when will the reform process ever begin?”

 

9. So what should constitute progress by the time 75th session ends?

 

  • Firstly, we want the application of the General Assembly Rules of Procedures to the IGN to bring about an open, inclusive and transparent process. 
  • Secondly, we call for text-based negotiations to start. A text reflecting all positions and proposals from member states will be necessary to make progress. 
  • Thirdly, let us reaffirm our firm support for the Common African Position, as specified in the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration. In the last Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, 120 NAM leaders, for the first time, added their voice of support to the Common African Position. Let us not sidetrack this discussion by asking for greater representation only for Africa, but we need to ask for greater representation for all those who deserve to be in the Security Council, including Africa, Latin America, and others. For all this, we need a serious and credible process.

 

10. On issues of substance, while India’s position is well known, let me repeat here for the sake of record. We believe that the vast majority of member states are, like us, in favour of expansion in both - permanent and non-permanent - categories of membership of the Security Council.

 

 

Mr. President,

 

11. I do not wish to waste the time of this Assembly by responding to the irrelevant and irresponsible remarks made by the representative of Pakistan, which has become “Pavlovian” whenever India is mentioned. This is a forum for serious debate, not frivolous allegations.

 

12. We need decisive movement this year. Without decisive movement, I feel that those who support real reform and who wish to deliver on the commitment made by our leaders, will be forced to look beyond the IGN, maybe to this very Assembly, for results. If that happens, we must not hesitate in taking a relook at the IGN process itself. I am confident that you as PGA will make sure that IGN produces results.  

 

13. The last IGN session was cut short unexpectedly due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, though other UN bodies and processes did manage to adapt to the changed scenario and to continue their deliberations using innovative formats. We hope that in this session, the excuse of the pandemic is not used to stall the IGN again by insisting on in-person meetings only.

 

Mr. President,

 

14. India will continue to work with all countries which believe in genuine progress for UNSC reform.

 

Thank you.