India Pushes for Veto Rights for All UN Council Members

Speaking at the United Nations, India’s Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish noted that any reform to the UNSC must include the need to consider a number of factors including membership classification, regional representation, size, procedures and the veto.

He said there is great responsibility tied to having veto rights and this must be used responsibly.

Unequal use of veto power questioned

The unequal use of the veto was criticized by India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish. At present only the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China have veto rights.

During the lifetime of the United Nations, the veto has been used 331 times on approximately 200 resolutions.

Two of the five permanent members have not used their veto in over 3 and a half decades with the majority of vetos or threats to use the veto coming from the remaining three.

This shows cause for concern regarding accountability in India’s eyes.

Veto initiative has lacked expected change

Whilst the Veto Initiative was introduced in 2022 to increase accountability by requiring a debate to take place in the United Nations General Assembly when a veto is used by a permanent member, Harish has said that since the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 76/262 there has been a high number of vetos used.

To make changes to just the use of the veto would be ineffective and text-based negotiations should be made regarding all five areas of reform to the Security Council.

India believe that limiting the use of the veto cannot be done without considering other factors.

Equality and African representation

India reiterated their support for the Common African Position. This is a collective policy created by the African Union to represent the interests of Africa on key global and regional issues.

Creating a new class of permanent members, whether with veto rights or not, could create further issues with the difficult reform process. Instead, equality should be given to all permanent members. "Fairness and justice must prevail."

This push comes after long discussions regarding whether the Security Council represents the geopolitical landscape of today and India continue to advocate for a more representative and accountable international body.