Overview
- India used the Security Council's Open Debate on Working Methods to demand comprehensive reform, saying expansion of both permanent and non-permanent seats must be negotiated through text-based talks with clear milestones and deadlines.
- The Indian charge d’affaires, Yojna Patel, warned on Wednesday that the Council's sanctions listing and de-listing processes lack transparency and objectivity and should not be used to pursue narrow political goals or to 'legitimise' terrorists.
- India called for equal access to Security Council documents for elected non-permanent members so they can see why proposals are accepted, rejected, or put on hold rather than leaving those decisions known only to a few members.
- New Delhi pushed for a fixed, enforceable timeline to end an eight-month stalemate in appointing chairs and vice-chairs of key subsidiary bodies, proposing amendments to Note 507 to require prompt selections.
- As background, the Security Council was set up in 1945 with five veto-wielding permanent members while UN membership has quadrupled since then, and India argued that this dated structure, plus the exclusion of troop- and police-contributing countries from formal decision roles, undermines the Council's effectiveness and legitimacy.