India Made Its UNSC Presidency Count

Context: During the two years in the UNSC, the presidency gives an opportunity for focusing on critical issues beyond the regular work of the Security Council. Such special efforts draw attention to India’s role and interests. India has grasped the opportunity well and brought public visibility to issues of importance.

Significance of India’s UNSC presidency:

• Never before has an Indian Prime Minister undertaken the role of Chair of the UNSC.
• The themes set by India for its term on the UNSC included the 5S approach with Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Sahyog (cooperation), Shanti (peace) and Samriddhi (prosperity).
• For this, India would stand with multilateralism, the rule of law and a fair and equitable international system.

Initiatives taken in the recent India UNSC presidency: Three initiatives were taken during India’s presidency. 

• Related to maritime security: Maritime security is a major issue, especially in the Indo-Pacific, due to aggressive moves by China and the consolidation of the Quad.
• Keeping a rule-based order and preventing a hegemonistic role for China is critical for India’s continuing rise.
• India also brought into focus the significance of UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) (retaliated by China and unratified by the US) under “Maintenance of international peace and security”.
• UN peacekeeping: For many years, India was the leading troop-contributing country and remained an important one.
• India has been a member of the Peacebuilding Commission since its inception in 2005. 
• Prior to this, India announced a contribution of $1 million for supporting the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMI- SOM).
• India contributed $150,000 to the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) this year, bringing the total to about $6 million since its inception.
• India’s initiative on peacekeeping operations focused on ‘Protecting the protectors’. A resolution on ‘Accountability of crimes against UN peacekeepers and the first-ever presidential statement on ‘Technology for peacekeeping’ was achieved.
• Counter-terrorism: India has endeavoured to focus the attention of the world community on countering terror effectively, the role of Pakistan, and the emerging situation in Afghanistan.

Challenges at the UNSC

• The UNSC agenda is not solely decided by the president for the month. Thus, India needs the concurrence of others too.
• Cautious move with Taliban: Russia and China abstained from the resolution condemning Taliban, while other nations are ready to accommodate Taliban – impacting India’s counter-terrorism initiatives.
• Other concerning issues: India had to grapple with issues concerning Myanmar, Ethiopia, Mali and Sudan and the sudden turn of events in Afghanistan.

Way Forward: During the two years in the UNSC, the presidency gives an opportunity for focusing on critical issues beyond the regular work of the Security Council. Such special efforts draw attention to India’s role and interests.