India Warns UNSC Veto Must Not Serve ‘Narrow Political Expediency’, Pushes For Major Reforms Across All Five Key Areas

New Delhi: India has reiterated its demand for significant changes to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), stating that its five permanent members' veto power must be exercised sensibly and not for "narrow political interests." The Council's membership, regional representation, size, working methods, and veto rights must all be changed, according to New Delhi, which has also called for time-bound talks to overhaul the body.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, stated in a speech at the UN in New York that reform talks need to shift to text-based negotiations with precise deadlines and benchmarks.    

“India has always maintained that the veto, which is right now a prerogative only of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, is a responsibility that must be exercised with great restraint, especially on matters bearing upon the maintenance of international peace and security. It should not be an instrument of narrow political expediency," Harish said.

Why India Wants All Five Areas Of UNSC Reform Addressed Together

India has argued that restricting the veto alone would not change the existing balance of power within the Security Council. It maintains that reforms must cover all five key areas simultaneously: categories of membership, regional representation, the Council’s size, working methods and the veto.

“Limiting the veto cannot be separated from the questions of categories of membership, regional representation, size and working methods. We need to move forward on all five clusters together," he said.

Harish reiterated that the immediate priority should be to begin text-based negotiations rather than continue discussions without a clear roadmap.

“India reiterates its call for a comprehensive approach towards Security Council reforms. The starting point is early commencement of text-based negotiations, with clearly defined timelines and milestones. Addressing the veto in isolation does not change the decision-making dynamic of the P5," he added.

The Indian envoy also pointed to the historical use of the veto to underline concerns over how the power has shaped the Council's decisions.

“The record of the Veto is stark. Over the life of this Organisation, the veto has been exercised 331 times on around 200 resolutions," Harish said.

He noted that two of the five permanent members had not used the veto for more than three and a half decades, while most vetoes, or threats to use them, had come from only three permanent members.

India Questions Whether The UN's Veto Accountability Mechanism Is Enough

Harish talked about the Veto Initiative that was passed in 2022. This initiative says that if a veto is used in the Security Council, it starts a argument in the United Nations General Assembly.  The plan was meant to improve responsibility by making the larger UN members talk about using the veto. 

However, he pointed out the number of vetoes used since the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 76/262, showing a difference between the accountability system and the ongoing use of that power. 

India also raised concerns about what Harish described as an “effective or de facto veto,” a situation in which a Council member can block proposals without formally casting a veto.

“The veto is not only what is cast in the open. There is also the ‘effective or de facto veto’ that every Council member, elected and non-elected, holds over presidential statements, press statements and the decisions of sanctions committees, where the unwritten rule of consensus allows a single member to hold or block a proposal, most often without explanation," he said.

Harish says that in a consensus-based system, one member can stop a proposal from moving forward even if no official veto is recorded.  India's worries go beyond the official veto count and impact the wider decision-making process within the Council. 

India Says All Permanent Members Must Have Equal Rights

Reiterating India's position on the future structure of the Security Council, Harish said New Delhi's approach remained aligned with the Common African Position on UNSC reform.

“We reiterate that as long as a veto exists, it must be held by all permanent members of a reformed Council. Fairness and justice demand that all permanent members enjoy the same rights and responsibilities," he said.

India has objected to a plan that would establish a distinct group of permanent members without the same veto power as the current five permanent members, claiming that this would maintain the disparities that reform is meant to rectify.

“A new category of permanent members, with or without the veto, would only further complicate a discussion that is already difficult, and would further entrench the very inequity we are seeking to correct," Harish said.

Additionally, he questioned whether periodic elections and perpetual membership could coexist, claiming that the two ideas were inherently incompatible. India's position is that reform must go beyond limiting the use of the veto and address the wider structure of the Security Council.