Letters to the Editor

India and UNSC

The two most prestigious organs of the United tions are the Security Council and the Intertiol Court of Justice (ICJ). while the Security Council has 15 member states, the ICJ has 15 judges. Election to the UNSC is conducted only in the general assembly and requires two-thirds majority to get elected. Election to the ICJ is held concurrently in the UNGA and UNSC and requires absolute majority of the total membership in each organ. Veto does not apply for election to the ICJ. India has lost elections to both these organs in the past. But our recent victory in the hotly contested election to the ICJ seems to have lifted our spirits as a tion. We are justifiably proud of our success and of the skill and determition with which our diplomacy was deployed.

Of the two organs – UNSC and ICJ - the UNSC is by far more important from the tiol interest point of view. It deals with questions of peace and security as well as terrorism and has developed a tendency to widen its ambit into other fields, including human rights and eventually environment. In addition to the Kashmir issue, which Pakistan forcibly tries to raise, there are other matters in which India would be interested such as the list of terrorists – Hafeez Saeed for example.

India is trying for a permanent seat in UNSC. Many member states have been pledging support to our aspiration for permanent membership. Some P-5 countries have also announced support. The principal P-5 member opposing us is Chi. If a permanent seat is not available, there are other proposals on the table. One proposal is for the creation of semi-permanent seats, according to which members would be elected for six-eight years and would be eligible for immediate re-election. Given India’s growing prestige, it should not be difficult for us to successfully bid for one of these seats. It might be a better altertive than to unrealistically hope for a permanent seat in the Security Council.  

Satish Kumar Sarma,

Kalyanpur,

Biswath Chariali.