India pursues parallel bid for UNSC, launching candidature for election while campaigning for permanent seat

United Nations: India is pursuing parallel roads to the UN Security Council (UNSC), launching on Monday a campaign for election to it, while continuing its bid for a permanent seat.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar is to formally announce India’s candidature for the Asia Pacific non-permanent seat in next year’s elections for the two-year term starting 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 as well as being a voice of the Global South, if elected.

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 of 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 the193-member Assembly.

In its last election, India, which was unanimously backed by the Asia Pacific group and ran unopposed, received 184 votes, and eight were 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 who is to represent them. Sometimes, there is no unanimity, and at other times, a country may decide to run on its own.

The highlight of India’s last term was convening a meeting of the Council in India during its rotating presidency in October 2022.

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 the use of emerging technologies by terrorists.

The bid by India for the 2028-29 term is an attempt to shorten the long gaps of as much as over a decade between some of its previous terms so that it can have a consistent voice at the UN’s highest decision-making body.

India’s first term was in1950-51, 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, which completes its term at the end of this year.

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