SRINAGAR: India is a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. It was elected to the coveted berth with an overwhelming majority.
Four other countries which were elected to the Council include India, Ireland, Mexico, Norway and Kenya. They will join the UNSC on January 1, 2021, for a two-year term.
“India will become a member of UNSC at a critical juncture. We are confident that in the Covid and post-Covid world, India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system,’’ media reports quoted said India’s Permanent Representative to the UN T S Tirumurti saying. Tirumurti described India’s election as recognition of Prime Miniter Narendra Modi’s global role. “His strong engagement across countries and across regions has clearly found resonance,’’ he said.
Though India was the only candidate from the group it belongs to, it still had to secure two-third of the votes. I eventually managed the grand success by poling 184 of the 192 votes.
UN SC elects 10 non-permanent members to the Council for a two-year term. The Council always has 15 members of which five are permanent. Other than p-5, the other five non-permanent members in the Council right now include Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam –elected last year. The five permanent Members are France, Russia, the UK, the US and China.
The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis – five for African and Asian states; one for the Eastern European States; two for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two for Western European and other States.
So far, India has served the UN SC for a maximum of seven terms. The last stint was in 2011-12. Later, India contested for the 1996-97 term but lost to Japan.
India Likely To Join UNSC As Member, Tensions Up In Islamabad
India’s election to the Security Council has added to the tensions in Islamabad. There has been a strong feeling that it will impact Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts across the globe. It was perhaps why the Pakistan Ambassador to UN, Munir Akram has to formally respond to the development saying it will have no impact on the issues which are already on the UN agenda.
