India began 2011 on a bright note with a two-year, Non-Permanent membership at the UN Security Council (UNSC) but the real crowning was its appointment as Chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (UNCTC).
India astutely used the regional multi-lateral forums to supplant its position in the UNSC. Indian decision-makers have finally understood the meaning of a Multi-Polar World.
Former Indian Ambassador to the UN Chinmaya Gharekhan said power relations at the UNSC were skewed in favour of the veto-wielding Britain, China, France, Russia and the US (five Permanent Members of the UNSC) , who constitute the world’s most Exclusive Club.
“Other Countries are reduced to wooing them to ensure that a particularly damaging resolution does not go through,” he said in his book ‘The Horseshoe Table: An Inside View of the UN Security Council.’ But this situation will change, as the world knows that the victors of a war cannot be rulers forever.
Rising economic powers would eventually occupy important positions in the global high table just as the US did after the World War I, following nearly a century of isolationism.
India falls exactly into the same position now. After gaining independence in 1947, the country adopted its own version of isolationism, called, ‘Non-Alignment’ with countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Movement was perhaps prompted by the ambition to keep a number of other power blocs at bay; including the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and other global alliances.
India started keeping its cards close to the chest during the days of détente in the 1970s between the US and the Soviet Union.
Defensive Realism
From the following decade to the start of the new Millennium, India followed the policy of ‘defensive realism,’ restricting to issue close to its borders. With the end of the ‘Cold War,’ India aligned itself with the US and understood the importance of “Balance Of Power,” when the US tried to curtail China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific.
However, with the decline of the West, orchestrated by the financial crisis and economic meltdown, India can play an important role in world politics, especially in its current role in the UNSC.
But as US President Barack Obama mentioned in his speech at Indian Parliament in November 2010, India needs to take some urgent calls on important issues around the world and its immediate neighborhood.
Meanwhile, UNSC’s decision to wind up the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) on January 14 was a victory of India’s own version of “Monroe Doctrine” which contradicts its commitments to the UN.
UNMIN was established on January 23, 2007 to monitor the disarmament of Nepali Maoist rebels prepare for Constituent Assembly Elections.
New Delhi was never comfortable with UNMIN presence in Nepal as it felt that no outside power including the UN can influence the affairs of its neighbour.
In due course, India would be required to participate in decision-making at the UN, including the election of the Secretary General.
India had issues with the incumbent, Ban Ki-Moon over Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal. Delhi may not be averse to the candidature of UNDP Administrator and Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
It would be interesting to see if this issue is raised during the forthcoming visit of current Prime Minister John Key to India.
The picture appearing here shows Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, briefing journalists following his country’s election to the Security Council for a two-year term from January 1, 2011. Picture from the UN under Arrangement.
