Can UNSC be Inclusive by Excluding World’s Largest Democracy: Asks India

The first step to “future-proof” the UN Security Council (UNSC) would be to reform it. The UN Security Council (UNSC) that denies permanent membership to the world’s largest democracy cannot be considered inclusive, said India.

“The reform of the UNSC is the fundamental starting step towards ‘Futureproofing Trust for Sustaining Peace’,” India’s Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said on Wednesday.

“Is the UNSC in its present form—which denies permanent representation to entire continents of Africa, Latin America and the world’s largest democracy—can it be deemed to be ‘inclusive’,” she asked at an open debate at the Council.

If the Council “is to continue to engender trust and confidence” in its ability to lead the world, it must better represent the developing countries, Kamboj said.

The open debate on “future-proofing” the UN to ensure its credibility and effectiveness was convened by Switzerland, which is holding the Council presidency for the first time.

Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis who presided over the meeting said that it was necessary “to consider how this Council can strengthen the foundations of a broader peace architecture, which “must be inclusive and include those whom the population has designated as democratically legitimate”.