POREG VIEW: It is not as forthright support as Japan received in its bid for a place at the UN high table. Nevertheless, President Obama’s observation during the course of his address to Indian parliamentarians that he looks forward ‘to a reformed United Nations Security Council that includes India as a permanent member’ is a significant development. He referred to the Indian desire while speaking about an historic opportunity to make the US-India ties defining partnership of the century ahead. There is no denying that bilateral relations have overcome the cold war mindset. As president Obama himself noted, two successive governments led by different parties in India, and two of his predecessors – one a Democrat, one a Republican, worked to bring a qualitative change in the relationship.
Reaction from China and Pakistan to Obama Speak was along predictable lines – while Beijing was more nuanced, Islamabad’s was blunt with the foreign minister Qureshi saying that Delhi doesn’t deserve to be among the Permanent Members of the Security Council. Even Japan and Germany don’t appear pleased. Along with Brazil they are also pressing their case for permanent seats.
India is a founder-member of the United Nations. As an emerging power in Asia, it believes that a place in the Security Council will enable it to play its dutiful role in maintaining international peace and security. That is why more than two decades ago it went public with its desire as the moves to expand the 15-member Council gained momentum.
But the expansion of the Security Council cannot be a standalone effort. It has to be a part of the UN reform, which is being talked about since 1979. Several proposals have been placed on the table but none has made an impact. In fact, there is no unanimity of the type of additional permanent members. Should they be with veto right or should the veto right be abolished altogether? The US has its own pet theories on the new invigorated UN. These are not in sync with the thinking of Russia and China. Unanimity also eludes the non-aligned bloc of 118- countries.
Pakistan and Italy are at the forefront of a campaign by the ‘Uniting for Consensus group’ against new P5. They are demanding an increase in the number of non-permanent members. African nations as a bloc believe that historical wrong for the ‘dark’ continent can be undone only by giving it two permanent seats with veto power.
Whether by design or by default, President Obama did not outline any plan in his Delhi address to bridge the ‘UN reform divide’. So, the US support to India’s cause will remain mere academic for the present. It will of course have some rhetorical value because the leader of the world’s oldest democracy says the nation of a billion people has a "rightful place in the world" alongside China.
But if read in conjunction with his other remarks, like for instance, ‘strengthening democratic governance and human rights are the responsibilities of leadership’ and ‘in international fora, India has often shied away from some of these issues’ point that the American support is not that free as US would like India to believe. No surprise, therefore, there was a bluntness in the Obama tone when it came to Myanmar and Iran.
But if read in conjunction with his other remarks, like for instance, ‘strengthening democratic governance and human rights are the responsibilities of leadership’ and ‘in international fora, India has often shied away from some of these issues’ point that the American support is not that free as US would like India to believe. No surprise, therefore, there was a bluntness in the Obama tone when it came to Myanmar and Iran.
