Dear Editor,
World leaders meet next week for the 70th anniversary celebration of the United Nations. President Granger and Caribbean leaders are expected to be at the elaborate ceremonies and banquets for the world leaders. The General Assembly for 2015 opens amidst hopes that the leaders of the major countries (G5 with veto powers in the Security Council) would agree to reform the body to make it democratic and reflective of the various global regions and ethnic groups. Such reform would have been good for Guyana and the wider Caribbean/Latin America. But any expected reform (especially expansion of the Security Council) will not take place as the major global players are not in favour of including the other major global powers like India, Japan, Germany, Brazil and South Africa into the special club which has veto powers.
Although there was consensus on reforming the Security Council last July among member nations, the G5 members are backpedalling, preferring to send proposals for reform to a UN committee for further discussions. In short, the G5 members want to kill any agreement to expand the SC in terms of those countries which hold the veto.
In their one-to-one meets with the Indian Prime Minister over the last several years, the rulers of UK, France, US, Russia and China had expressed public support for the expansion of the permanent members of the Security Council with India’s inclusion. They reiterated their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last ten months in order to expand trade deals with India that are expected to double over the next decade. A similar commitment was also made to the heads of government of Japan and Germany.
France and UK support the inclusion of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil as Permanent Members of the SC, but without veto power, although France has indicated that it is willing to accept India being given the veto power. India supports Germany and Japan being granted veto power as well. China, Russia, the US seem completely opposed to any expansion. Publicly, the US and Russia have said that there is no change in their position of support to India (which has been a close ally of Russia since 1947 when it became independent), but they have not communicated such support to the negotiators in written submissions. They are just playing delaying games.
The inclusion of Brazil and South Africa in the SC was proposed by India as part of the expansion to give representation to Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. India hopes that with the inclusion of Brazil and South Africa (neither is a world power with nuclear capability) it will garner wider support for the proposal to expand the Security Council body and those nations that will have veto power. But it is not to be, not at the 70th anniversary anyway.
Just like rulers of (Third World) countries that don’t want reforms that will dilute their powers, the global players don’t wish to reduce their power and influence over the global body. The positions of member states that matter (the five global players) remain as wide apart today as before reforms were proposed. There is not an iota of hope that a meeting of the rulers of the major players will take place to arrive at a consensus. And they will continue their doublespeak of saying one thing to or Germany or Japan and something different to the General Assembly whenever the matter comes up for discussion.
India and the other four have exhausted all the arguments in favour of the expansion of the SC, including a delay in being granted the veto power. But nothing seems to be working. The UNSC is not reflective of the global reality. The G5 of the SC need to change their obstinate position and embrace reforms to include the other major global players that are more than willing to share in the expenses of the body as well as in other global responsibilities.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
