India calls for a reformed multilateralism at the United Nations – Kaieteur News

India is calling for a reformed multilateralism at the United Nations


By Ambassador Asoke Mukerji

UN headquarters in New York City with member nations flags.

Kaieteur News – Over the years, India’s position at the United Nations (UN) has become more prominent. At the back of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s address at last year’s UNGA, Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, examines the country’s demands for a long-awaited global body reform, which will lead to peace, security and sustainable development in the world.

Ambassador of India and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2013-2015), Asoke Kumar Mukerji.

The Prime Minister of India reiterated the country’s commitment to the United Nations during the 75th anniversary celebrations of the world body held last year. Three major themes resonated in his frequent calls for “reformed multilateralism.” These were the urgent need to complete the democratization of decision-making at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC); position development issues at the forefront of UN work; and transforming the operation of the United Nations into a multi-stakeholder body to enable it to respond effectively to the challenges it faces.

A photograph from September 2019, where the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, can be seen speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, USA. This year, due to the ongoing global pandemic, the 75th UN General Assembly session was organized almost and like other heads of delegations, PM Modi made his speech during the UNGA session General Debate via a pre-recorded video message.

The call for “reformed multilateralism” has become an integral part of India’s foreign policy, seeking to increase the country’s participation in the multilateral system in order to accelerate its transformation into one of the major powers of the 21st century. India has contributed significantly to the creation of the modern multilateral system. A century ago, over 1.3 million Indian troops volunteered to serve in the victorious Allied armies and secured victory in World War I, enabling India to sign the 1919 Versailles Treaty and become a founder of the League of Nations. Over 2.5 million Indian troops volunteered to fight the Allied armies during World War II, enabling India to sign the 1942 “UN Declaration” and subsequently the UN Charter in June 1945 in San Francisco. As a country with one-sixth of the world’s population and a flourishing democracy, India is a major stakeholder in a functional multilateral system.
Following his call, for a multilateral approach to achieving sustainable peace and prosperity at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) High Level meeting on July 17, 2020, Prime Minister Modi made a strong pitch for a reformed multilateralism “that reflects today’s reality, giving voice to all stakeholders, tackling contemporary challenges, and focusing on human welfare ”at the 75th anniversary UN summit on September 21, 2020. Prime Minister’s Speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) general debate on September. 26, 2020, provided the contours of India’s vision of “reformed multilateralism.”
At the heart of this vision is India’s belief that with outdated structures, UN member states cannot fight today’s challenges. Without comprehensive reforms, the United Nations faces a crisis of confidence. ”The only UN structure that impedes the democratic principle of consensus decision-making or majority voting is the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), where the veto powers of its five self-elected permanent members override decision-making democratic.
The Prime Minister scoffed at UNSC for failing to prevent conflicts, including civil wars, and terrorist attacks resulting in the deaths of many ordinary human beings, including hundreds of thousands of children. Millions of people who have been uprooted by conflict have become refugees. He said this had happened despite the significant contributions made by many UN member states to the UNSC to help maintain peace and security. The Prime Minister recalled that India had contributed over 240,000 troops in more than 50 UN missions, with brave Indian troops suffering the highest casualties among UN peacekeepers.
In June 2020, India got 184 out of 193 votes in the UNGA to be elected to a two-year term at the UNSC for 2021-22. This marked the eighth time since 1949 that over two-thirds of the UNGA had approved India’s qualifications for election to the UNSC. The Prime Minister pointed out, “the people of India have been waiting a long time to complete the UN reforms.” He asked, “Today, the people of India are worried about whether this reform process will ever reach its logical conclusion. How long will India be kept out of UN decision-making structures? ”
In his remarks at the 75th anniversary summit, the Prime Minister referred to the “far-reaching” statement adopted by world leaders and warned that unless the UN was comprehensively revised, the vision of the statement would ” conflict prevention, while ensuring development, tackling climate change, reducing inequalities, and stimulating digital technologies, ”will remain unfulfilled.
India’s call for reformed multilateralism focuses on the interconnection between peace, security and development. Ineffective UNSC jeopardizes India’s national efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The relevance of this observation for UN work in the coming decade was demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s reference to some of India’s major development initiatives implemented since 2015. Demonstrating how UN member states can “reform-perform-transform,” the Prime Minister listed the “transformational changes” in India over the last five years that enabled hundreds of millions of people to go into the formal financial sector, become free from open defecation, and access free healthcare services. Empowering women through promoting entrepreneurship and leadership, access to microfinance and paid maternity leave were integral to India’s non-discriminatory development policies. India was “one of the leaders of digital transactions,” said PM Modi, and a “Self-reliant India” policy would become the power multiplier of the global economy after the end of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Prime Minister of India committed to “sharing experiences of our development” as a practical way of implementing the principle of international cooperation on which multilateralism depends. This included a commitment to build on the supply of essential medicines by India to more than 150 countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by stimulating India’s vaccine production and distribution capability to “help all humanity.”
Based on its experience of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), India favored a “multi-stakeholder on the ground” approach to achieving the global goals. This required engagement with “state and local governments, civil society, communities and people.” Similarly, a multi-stakeholder international approach had sustained India’s international experience in implementing various global initiatives for a holistic approach to peace, security and development.
The United Nations has already adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to its Tunisian Agenda activities to respond to the emerging digital regime, and Agenda 2030 to deliver the SDGs. The call for “reform multilateralism” comes based on democratic decision-making, prioritizing development, and involving all stakeholders at a critical time for India’s foreign policy. India’s role as a non-permanent elected member of the UNSC and the new G20 Chair during 2021-2022 provides the country with the opportunity to play a leading role in UN reform and transformation.
(The publication of this article, at the request of the High Commission of India, coincides with the Republic Day of India, which is being observed today – Tuesday, 26th January 2021.)



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