India urges UNSC reforms, calls 'outdated' 1945 structure unfit for 2025

United Nations, Oct 25: India has called upon the United Nation’s Security Council (UNSC) to undertake "real, comprehensive reforms", saying that the 80-year-old Security Council architecture no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.

“An outdated Council architecture that mirrors the geopolitical realities of 1945 is not equipped to handle the challenges of 2025," said India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, calling for expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories through "time-bound" and "text-based negotiations".

Harish also called for making UN mechanisms more agile, noting that peacekeepers face "newer challenges every day" and need realistic mandates, adequate resources, and technological support.

"Structural adjustments of different UN bodies are welcome, but not enough," he said, urging that UN80, the 80th anniversary of the organisation, should aim for "real, comprehensive reforms of the UN and its principal organs".

Highlighting India's commitment to multilateralism, he said the world must move beyond "pennies and posts" to craft a new vision for the UN that is more agile and responsive to global challenges such as pandemics, terrorism, economic instability, and climate change.

Responding to references made by Pakistan's envoy at the UN Security Council's open debate on “The United Nations Organisation: Looking into the Future” on Friday, Harish asserted that democracy is an "alien" concept for Pakistan.

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their fundamental rights in accordance with India's time-tested democratic traditions and constitutional framework. We, of course, know that these are concepts alien to Pakistan, " he said.

The envoy reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir "has been, is, and will always be" an integral and inalienable part of India.

Strongly rebuking Islamabad, Harish said, "We call upon Pakistan to end the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan's military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources."

Harish invoked India's civilisational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, "the world is one family", and urged all member states to come together and join hands towards realising "this vision for making the UN fit for purpose for the new era".

PTI