India's goal of becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council took a significant step forward on Monday with the UN General Assembly agreeing to adopt a negotiating text for UNSC reforms amid protests from China, Russia and Pakistan.
In a statement, India welcomed the decision, saying, “We look forward to early commencement of text-based negotiations with a view to securing concrete outcomes during the 70th session of the UNGA...“
Describing it as “historic and path-breaking“, India's UN ambassador Asoke Mukerji told the General Assembly that Monday's decision was significant on three counts -this was the first time in the history of the Inter-Governmental Negotiation (IGN) process that a decision on UNSC reform was adopted through an official document. Secondly , this decision sets the IGN process formally on an irreversible text-based negotiations path, and thirdly , the document is the one circulated on July 31, which would be negotiated on. In other words, there is a recognized text that has been adopted by the entire assembly , so there is no confusion on which would be the negotiating text. Moreover, the work done in the 69th session will now be carried over into the 70th session, so that will not be lost.
China dismissed the move as “not fair, not transparent“, as did Russia and Pakistan, but none of them could muster the support to oppose adoption of the text.
Welcoming the decision, India's former ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said it was “a game-changing decision made possible by excellent diplomacy by India including, in particular, in the final days leading to the adoption of the text“.
What this means is that over the next year, the negotiations on the text will continue under the leadership of Jamaican ambassador Courtenay Rattray to work towards building a global consensus on what the UN Security Council should be.
The opposition has not gone away-the big powers opposing the negotiations on the UNSC reform may yet resort to a block later on or in the UN Security Council. But for the foreseeable future, Monday's decision is a historic one, and could change the future of the UN decisively. With the adoption, the General Assembly decided to “immediately continue Inter-Governmental Negotiation on Security Council reform in informal plenary of the General Assembly at its 70th session, building on the informal meetings held during its 69th session, as well as the positions and proposals made by member states, reflected in the text and its annex circulated by the president of the General Assembly in his letter dated July 31, 2015“.
UN General Assembly president Sam Kutesa had informed member states about the draft in a letter dated September 10. In a letter to all UN members in July , he had circulated the text containing the positions of countries on Security Council reform and how the UN body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories.
In a statement, India welcomed the decision, saying, “We look forward to early commencement of text-based negotiations with a view to securing concrete outcomes during the 70th session of the UNGA...“
Describing it as “historic and path-breaking“, India's UN ambassador Asoke Mukerji told the General Assembly that Monday's decision was significant on three counts -this was the first time in the history of the Inter-Governmental Negotiation (IGN) process that a decision on UNSC reform was adopted through an official document. Secondly , this decision sets the IGN process formally on an irreversible text-based negotiations path, and thirdly , the document is the one circulated on July 31, which would be negotiated on. In other words, there is a recognized text that has been adopted by the entire assembly , so there is no confusion on which would be the negotiating text. Moreover, the work done in the 69th session will now be carried over into the 70th session, so that will not be lost.
China dismissed the move as “not fair, not transparent“, as did Russia and Pakistan, but none of them could muster the support to oppose adoption of the text.
Welcoming the decision, India's former ambassador to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said it was “a game-changing decision made possible by excellent diplomacy by India including, in particular, in the final days leading to the adoption of the text“.
What this means is that over the next year, the negotiations on the text will continue under the leadership of Jamaican ambassador Courtenay Rattray to work towards building a global consensus on what the UN Security Council should be.
The opposition has not gone away-the big powers opposing the negotiations on the UNSC reform may yet resort to a block later on or in the UN Security Council. But for the foreseeable future, Monday's decision is a historic one, and could change the future of the UN decisively. With the adoption, the General Assembly decided to “immediately continue Inter-Governmental Negotiation on Security Council reform in informal plenary of the General Assembly at its 70th session, building on the informal meetings held during its 69th session, as well as the positions and proposals made by member states, reflected in the text and its annex circulated by the president of the General Assembly in his letter dated July 31, 2015“.
UN General Assembly president Sam Kutesa had informed member states about the draft in a letter dated September 10. In a letter to all UN members in July , he had circulated the text containing the positions of countries on Security Council reform and how the UN body should be expanded in its permanent and non-permanent categories.
No comments:
Post a Comment