EAM Jaishankar launches India’s bid for UNSC Election with 6-point manifesto centered on ‘Shanti’ (Lead)
United Nations, July 14 (IANS) External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday launched India’s candidature for the Security Council with a six-point manifesto centered on Shanti, a profoundly significant acronym for “Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust [and] Integrity”.
Speaking to delegates and diplomats from around the world here, EAM Jaishankar said India would be the Voice of the Global South at the Council, and was running on its record of helping developing nations, participation in peacekeeping, and working to make the organisation capable of dealing with the challenges of the contemporary world.
India will contest next year’s election to the General Assembly for the Asia-Pacific non-permanent seat on the Council, with a term beginning in 2028. India, which has served eight terms as an elected member, will continue its fight against terrorism, a hallmark of its last term in 2021-2022, in the Council, he said.
New Delhi is pursuing a parallel path to the Council, maintaining its campaign for a permanent seat while seeking an elected seat to make its voice heard. So far, only Tajikistan has announced its candidature for the Asia Pacific seat to be vacated by Bahrain when it completes its term at the end of next year.
Dushanbe has been lobbying for the seat for several years and was endorsed by the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as far back as 2023. The OIC, which has 56 votes in the General Assembly, said in its resolution that its backing was based on “the principle of Islamic solidarity as being inherent to the joint Islamic action”. India will need two-thirds of the votes in the 193-member Assembly.
In its last election, India, which was unanimously backed by the Asia Pacific group and ran unopposed, received 184 votes, with 8 cast as spoiler votes. The 53-member Asia Pacific Group covers a wide swath of the world from Lebanon on the West to Kiribati on the East. The non-permanent seats are distributed by region. When possible, the regional groups select their representatives. Sometimes there is no unanimity, and at other times a country may decide to proceed on its own.
The highlight of India’s last term was convening the Council meeting in India during its rotating presidency in October 2021. During its session in Mumbai, the Council members honoured the victims of the 2008 terrorist attack by Pakistan-based terrorists, and they got a first-hand view of the ravages of terrorism. There, and in New Delhi, the Council focused on countering terrorists’ use of emerging technologies.
India’s bid for the 2028-29 term is an attempt to shorten the long gaps of up to a decade between some of its previous terms, so it can have a consistent voice at the UN’s highest decision-making body. India’s first term was in 1950-51, and its next came in 1967. That was followed by two-year terms starting in 1972, 1977, 1984, and 1991. There was then a 19-year gap till 2011, and the next tenure came a decade later in 2021.
Kyrgyzstan was elected in June to the Asia-Pacific seat and will succeed Pakistan, whose term ends at the end of this year. The OIC has endorsed Libya for the 2027 election for the Africa seat. Some countries prepare decades in advance for Council elections. Malaysia, which is aiming for the 2035 election, began lobbying for the UNSC seat at the beginning of this decade and received the OIC backing in 2023.
–IANS
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