This article first appeared in The Hindu on September 28, 2022
There is a buzz in India about the prospects of the country becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. India’s External Affairs Minister has been actively canvassing for the country’s candidature, meeting his counterparts from several countries. He has repeated the call, made often in the past, for a text-based negotiation on what has been euphemestically referred to as the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), i.e. negotiation on a written document outlining the proposed reform instead of just holding forth verbally.
The five permanent members of the UNSC – China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States – constitute what is the last, most exclusive club in international relations. All other clubs have been breached. Until a quarter century ago, the nuclear weapon had five members, the same as the P-5. India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel have since joined the club. The P-5 could do nothing to stop the latter countries from forcing themselves into membership of the nuclear club. But the permanent membership of the Security Council is another story…