"India's Rising Power Meets a Weakening UN Security Council"
Veto power
right of any UN Security Council permanent member to block a substantive resolution with a negative vote.
Weaponised interdependence
powerful states using control over financial/technological networks to impose unilateral restrictions beyond their borders.
The United Nations was founded in 1945 to prevent conflict among major powers through collective security, with the Security Council as its executive arm. The Council's five permanent members, the US, UK, France, Russia and China, were granted veto power under Article 27 of the UN Charter, reflecting the post-war balance of power. Non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms on a regional basis. Although UN membership grew from 51 founding states in 1945 to 193 today, the Security Council's composition was expanded only once, from 11 to 15 members in 1965, with no change to the five permanent seats.
India, a founding member of the UN in 1945, has long argued that this static composition undermines the Council's representative character. It has built its case for a larger role on its peacekeeping record, its economic emergence and its consistent payment of dues. Amending the Charter to expand permanent membership requires ratification by two-thirds of member states, including all five permanent members, under Articles 108 and 109, a requirement that gives every permanent member an effective veto over reform itself.
The Security Council's veto is central to why both reform and action often stall. Article 27 provides no veto over procedural questions, but on substantive matters a single permanent member's negative vote, not an abstention, blocks a resolution however wide the support elsewhere. This design assumed the five wartime allies would generally agree. When they do not, as over Ukraine, Gaza, or the conflict involving Iran and Gulf states, the Council cannot restrain its own strongest members or their clients. Sudan shows what happens when no permanent member has enough stake to act at all: neglect rather than deadlock.
This paralysis has a parallel outside the Council chamber. Powerful states increasingly use control over financial and technological networks, banking, insurance, payment clearing and supply chains, to impose restrictions unilaterally. …
'The long-sustained image of India as a leader of the oppressed and marginalised nations has disappeared on account of its new found role in the emerging global order.' Elaborate.
Consider the following statements regarding the United Nations Security Council:
1.It was expanded from 11 to 15 members in 1965.
2.The number of permanent members has remained unchanged since 1945.
3.Non-permanent members are elected for a three-year term.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Which of the following is required for an amendment to the UN Charter to take effect?
Consider the following statements regarding the veto power in the UN Security Council:
1.It is provided for under Article 27 of the UN Charter.
2.Any of the five permanent members can use it to block a substantive resolution.
3.It applies equally to procedural and substantive matters.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Match List I (fact about India and the UN) with List II (associated detail) and select the correct answer using the code given below.
List I:
A.Year India became a founding member of the UN
B.Year the Security Council was expanded from 11 to 15 members
C.Term for which India is contesting an elected Security Council seat
D.Country India is contesting against for that seat
List II:
1.1945
2.1965
3.2028-29
4.Tajikistan
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