Abhishek Vij
The United Nations was established in 1945 when humanity was crippled by the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The countries of the world believed that an international forum should be created that would prevent the world from facing such misfortune in the future. A Security Council was created with five countries having veto power to prevent any country from engaging in unwarranted actions. However, the very United States that helped create the United Nations has, under its current president, Donald Trump, reduced it to merely a club for the elite.Trump himself does not hesitate to admit this.
Gradually, the United Nations and the Security Council have become irrelevant in the current circumstances. Wars have been raging for a long time between Russia and Ukraine, and between Hamas and Israel. Civil wars are ongoing in many parts of the world, from Sudan to Myanmar. Weapon-producing countries are directly or indirectly fueling these conflicts so that their weapons continue to sell. As the United Nations approaches its 80th anniversary in 2025, its irrelevance is giving rise to many new concerns. On one hand, global crises are escalating. On the other hand, the powers of the Third World, namely Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, are ready to step forward and play a new role. India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, has stated that India will have to play a major role in resolving global conflicts, including terrorism.
The United Nations and the Security Council should abandon their narrow-mindedness and welcome the Third World and India as permanent members. India is expected to play a leading role, but it is currently only a non-permanent member of the Security Council; it should be granted permanent status. It should be made the sixth country with veto power in the Security Council. Only then will other emerging countries make the United Nations meaningful and a true guardian of humanity.
Jaishankar says that if reforms are to be made, the Security Council must be made truly meaningful.India is ready to assume greater responsibilities. The United Nations platform, as it approaches its 80th anniversary, appears to be becoming irrelevant, especially in the eyes of Trump. Global diplomacy is changing rapidly. In this new era, the countries of the developing world, under India’s leadership, are coming to the forefront. How long will they continue to be ignored? The demand for reforms in the United Nations and the Security Council is being raised at the highest levels worldwide.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also stated that there will be no progress without reforming the Security Council. Not only the United Nations, but also the Security Council must become a truly representative body of the world and be made more transparent. The perception that this global forum is a puppet of the United States or Western countries must be dispelled. Russia and China, by using their veto power, prevented the creation of any platform for resistance against the war in Ukraine.
That is why peace has not yet been achieved.Terrorism has become an international business, but the unilateral actions of the United Nations or the Security Council have failed to pose any obstacle to it. Now India is emerging as a powerful nation. In this time of recession, its growth rate is higher than that of even the wealthy nations. Despite being a victim of terrorism, it refused to bow down and launched a massive attack on terrorist bases in Operation Sindoor, even entering Pakistan, the very country that the UN meetings have repeatedly identified as a victim of terrorism. Therefore, the United Nations needs to become a platform of truth and courage at this time. India can make a significant contribution to this. But this will only be possible when the doors of the United Nations are opened to the developing countries with due respect.