General Assembly Security Council

United Nations Security Council Open Debate 'Inclusive development for the maintenance of international peace and security' January 19, 2015

Statement by Ambassador Bhagwant Singh Bishnoi,

Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

 

Mr. President,

Thank you for giving me the floor.

 

Let me first of all commend you on Chile's assumption of the Presidency of the Security Council.

Mr. President,

The topic for today's debate is an important one.

 

We have no difficulty with the Concept paper circulated by the Presidency when it says that 'inclusion' and 'inclusive development' are relevant factors for the preservation of peace and Peacebuilding.

 

Indeed, it has been our consistent position that there cannot be any peace without development. No society or nation has so far managed to achieve peace and stability without eradicating poverty and providing basic human development and economic opportunities to its people.

 

The grievances that often lead to conflict, either within or amongst countries, are driven largely by a sense of deprivation linked to the absence of development. Behind almost every conflict in the world, is a background of poverty, hunger, deprivation, lack of economic opportunity and social inclusion.

 

When people do not have the means to shape their own destiny, when they cannot aspire to a better future for themselves and for their children, they are susceptible to be caught in a vicious cycle of violence and conflict.

 

Inclusive economic growth and development, especially availability of opportunities to individuals and communities, are crucial buffers to conflicts.

 

By focusing therefore on holistic development and by addressing the root causes of instability and conflict in particular poverty, exclusion and lack of development we can create a more favorable environment for peaceful and stable societies and indeed a more stable international order.

 

At the same time, peace and stability within societies cannot be considered in isolation from their international context. They are directly connected to and are affected by conditions of instability and insecurity at the international level.

 

In so far as the issue of political inclusion is concerned, it is equally important to remember the oft-repeated maxim that there is no one-size-fits-all.

 

In other words, the efforts for ensuring broader political inclusion within national contexts must reflect national circumstances and realities and avoid repeating and reinforcing the existing paradigm of foisting externally formulated policies and programmes for countries transitioning out of conflict.

 

The imperative of political inclusion should not become an imposition of prescriptions on the affected population by the Security Council.

 

Mr. President,

A holistic vision of international security based on the interdependence of the three pillars of the UN system, namely peace and security, development and human rights, does not ipso facto mean that the Security Council should arrogate to itself all these functions.

 

Security indeed has a broader context. However, just because security has many dimensions, it does not mean that the Security Council must fit itself into all of them.

 

There are separate organs within the UN system tasked to manage the three pillars.

 

Synergy and complementarity need to be our watchwords, not duplication and co-option.

 

In so far as the issues of inclusive development are concerned, the Security Council should not encroach on the mandate of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC. The fact that there as many as 79 speakers on the list today does not legitimize bringing this subject to the Security Council. South Africa, as Chair of the G77, and many others, including us are saying this.

 

In any case, while the mandate of the Security Council is to act on behalf of the wider membership, it uniquely lacks the legitimacy, on account of its non-representative character, to counsel States on the merits of political inclusiveness.

 

Mr. President,

The question therefore is not so much how the Security Council should embrace the notion of interdependence of the three pillars to safeguard international security, but how the UN system as a whole should do so.

 

Traditionally, the development pillar of the UN system has been the most under-funded and even in cases where the system does focus on development, it is increasingly diverting itself from the central premise of eradication of poverty and hunger and the forging of international cooperation to assist developing countries on to the path of sustainable development.

 

We talk of development in the Security Council, and then wish the development agenda to focus on peace and security! This approach can only lead to confusion, not results.

 

Mr. President,

What is needed therefore is for us to seize the momentous opportunity provided by the Post-2015 Development Agenda to craft and implement policies for genuine international collaboration for eradication of poverty and promotion of sustainable development.

 

On the latter, the Secretary General has put it well in his recent report titled 'The Road to Dignity' when he says 'The stars are aligned for the world to take historic action to transform lives and protect the planet'.

 

This would in turn generate the conditions necessary for the Security Council to fulfill its mandate of ensuring international peace and security.

 

I thank you.

 

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