India Warns Against Mere “Tinkering” with UN Security Council Reform

India has raised alarms about the possibility of “smokescreen” efforts in reforming the UN Security Council (UNSC), warning that any attempt to merely tweak the existing framework could indefinitely delay critical reforms. This includes addressing the underrepresentation of regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and expanding permanent membership. These concerns were voiced by India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador P. Harish, during the annual plenary of the UN General Assembly on the ‘Question of equitable representation and increase in the membership of the Security Council’ on Monday.

Harish highlighted the lack of progress on UNSC reform, despite decades of international consensus on the need for change. He emphasized that, “it is disheartening that we have had no results to show in this regard since 1965, when the Council was last expanded in the non-permanent category alone.” That year, the UNSC’s membership was increased from six to ten elected members. India has been calling for further reforms ever since, focusing particularly on the expansion of permanent members.

The process of Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) has been one of the main vehicles for these discussions. However, Harish expressed disappointment with the lack of substantial progress in the 16 years since the IGN began. “The IGN remains largely confined to exchanging statements, speaking at, rather than with each other. No negotiating text. No time frame. And no defined end goal,” he said. This lack of direction, according to India, undermines efforts to achieve tangible outcomes, such as developing a new model for UNSC reform that would pave the way for text-based negotiations.

India has called for meaningful action in the IGN, but Harish urged caution regarding two key aspects of the reform process. The first concern is that the search for a minimum threshold of input from member states should not result in an indefinite delay in the development of a new model. “The development of a consolidated model based on ‘convergences’ should not lead to a race to the bottom to trace the lowest common denominator,” he explained. Harish warned that such a process could be exploited as a “smokescreen” to make only superficial changes to the UNSC framework, falsely presenting them as substantial reforms.

This, according to Harish, could delay necessary reforms like the expansion of permanent membership and addressing the under-representation of regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These issues could be pushed “to a very distant future,” he cautioned.

India has also expressed concerns about an argument pushed by certain countries that support maintaining the “status quo” in the UNSC. These nations have insisted that “even before beginning text-based negotiations, we must all agree on everything!” Harish criticized this stance, calling it an extreme case of “putting the ‘cart before the horse.'” He reiterated that this approach would prevent real progress toward reforms.

As a representative of the Global South, India believes that the legitimacy and effectiveness of the UN—and the Security Council in particular—are dependent on fair representation. Harish noted that “representation stands as the unassailable prerequisite for both ‘legitimacy’ and ‘effectiveness’ of not just the Council, but the UN as a whole.” He drew attention to the adaptability of younger multilateral frameworks, citing the example of the G20. Under India’s presidency in 2023, the African Union was welcomed as a full member. Harish used this as proof that “with political will, change is indeed possible.”

India remains hopeful that the UN member states will engage constructively to achieve concrete progress on Security Council reforms. Harish emphasized that such reforms must “respect the sentiments of the majority through the time-tested manner of negotiations.” He concluded that updating the UN is essential for preserving its legitimacy and credibility. “That should indeed be our resolution for the UN’s 80th anniversary,” he said.

India has long advocated for reform of the Security Council, especially the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership categories. The current 15-nation structure, founded in 1945, is viewed by India as inadequate for the demands of the 21st century, and it does not reflect contemporary geopolitical realities. India has repeatedly asserted that it deserves a permanent seat at the table, a position it last held as a non-permanent member from 2021 to 2022.

The ongoing challenges within the Security Council are also evident in its inability to address current global peace and security issues. Council members remain deeply divided over major conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out, the United Nations began with 51 member states nearly 80 years ago and has since grown to 193, reflecting the changing dynamics of global governance.

In his address to the UN’s Summit of the Future in September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need for reforms in global institutions to ensure global peace and development. “Reform is the key to relevance,” he stated, underscoring that the world must adapt to new realities in order to maintain peace and progress.

In a historic moment at the summit, world leaders adopted the Pact of the Future by consensus. The Pact calls for “reform of the Security Council, recognizing the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.” UN officials have hailed the language used in the Pact regarding Security Council reforms as “groundbreaking.”

The Pact outlines a commitment to redressing the historical injustice faced by Africa, which has long been underrepresented in the UNSC. It also prioritizes the representation of other underrepresented regions, such as Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The reform agenda includes expanding the Council to make it more representative of the current UN membership and reflective of contemporary global realities.

The Pact also calls for intensified efforts to reach an agreement on the categories of membership, taking into account the ongoing discussions in the Intergovernmental Negotiations process. This reflects a growing consensus among the international community that the time for meaningful reform of the UNSC has arrived. However, the path forward remains uncertain, with competing interests and political considerations continuing to shape the debate.