India calls for comprehensive UNSC reforms, seeks veto rights for all permanent members

India has renewed its demand for comprehensive reforms to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), arguing that changes to its veto system must go hand in hand with reforms to membership, regional representation, the Council’s size and its working methods.

India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Parvathaneni Harish, said the country supported a comprehensive approach to reforming the Council, stressing that limiting the veto could not be considered in isolation from the other key areas of reform.

“Limiting the veto cannot be separated from the questions of categories of membership, regional representation, size and working methods. We need to move forward on all five clusters together. India reiterates its call for a comprehensive approach towards Security Council reforms,” Harish said.

India also called for equal rights and responsibilities for all permanent members, arguing that creating a new category of permanent membership, with or without veto powers, would further complicate an already difficult process.

“Fairness and justice demand that all permanent members enjoy the same rights and responsibilities. A new category of permanent members, with or without the veto, would only further complicate a discussion that is already difficult,” the envoy said.

India flags disproportionate use of veto

The UNSC’s veto power is currently held by its five permanent members, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. A veto by any one of these countries can block a substantive resolution, regardless of the level of support it receives from other members.

Highlighting the historical use of the veto, Harish said its disproportionate exercise by a small number of countries had undermined the Council’s credibility.

“The record of the Veto is stark. Over the life of this Organisation, the veto has been exercised 331 times on around 200 resolutions,” he said.

The envoy noted that two of the five permanent members had not exercised their veto for more than three and a half decades, while most vetoes, or threats to use them, had come from only three of the five permanent members.

Harish also referred to the 2022 Veto Initiative, which was introduced to strengthen accountability by requiring a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) debate whenever a permanent member casts a veto in the Security Council.

The initiative had been viewed as a potential turning point in addressing concerns over the use of veto powers. However, Harish said the large number of vetoes cast since the adoption of UNGA Resolution 76/262 had demonstrated that the expected change had not materialised.

Veto must be exercised with restraint, says India

India maintained that the veto was not merely a privilege enjoyed by the five permanent members but also a responsibility that required considerable restraint, particularly on matters concerning international peace and security.

“India has always maintained that the veto, which is right now a prerogative only of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, is a responsibility that must be exercised with great restraint, especially on matters bearing upon the maintenance of international peace and security. It should not be an instrument of narrow political expediency,” Harish said.

He added that the responsibility attached to veto powers should be reflected in how they were exercised, rather than allowing them to serve narrow political interests.

India’s position is that addressing the limitations and use of the veto must form part of a broader restructuring of the Council, rather than being pursued through isolated changes.

India reiterates support for Africa’s common position

Harish also said India remained aligned with the Common Africa Position (CAP), the unified policy adopted by the African Union to enable African countries to speak with one voice on critical global and continental issues.

The question of Security Council reform has long featured demands for more equitable regional representation and a restructuring of its membership to reflect contemporary geopolitical realities.

India has consistently called for an expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership, maintaining that the Council’s present composition does not adequately represent the modern world. Its latest statement reiterates the position that reform must address all major aspects of the Council’s structure and functioning, including the distribution of veto powers and the rights and responsibilities of permanent members.

India has also urged member states to move towards text-based negotiations, with clear timelines and milestones, to break the longstanding deadlock over Security Council reform. New Delhi maintains that expanding the Council without addressing the existing imbalance in decision-making would not deliver meaningful reform.