India suffers blow as US, Russia, China oppose UNSC reform talks

[Vikrant]

Interesting situation. The camels in the tent don't want to let in a new camel

---

UNITED NATIONS: In a setback to India's bid for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council, the US, along with Russia and China, has opposed negotiations to reform the powerful UN body, refusing to contribute to a text that will form the basis for the long-drawn reform process.

UN General Assembly president Sam Kutesa achieved a breakthrough of sorts by circulating a text to UN members that will form the basis for the negotiations on the reform of the Security Council. Kutesa had appointed Jamaica's permanent representative Courtenay Rattray to chair on his behalf the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform.

Kutesa, in a letter dated July 31 to all UN members, said he is also circulating letters containing the positions of groups and Member States that indicated they did not wish their proposals to be included in the body of the negotiating text. These countries include US, Russia and China.

American ambassador to the UN Samantha Power said in her letter to Kutesa that the US is "open in principle" to a "modest" expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members but the condition that "any consideration of an expansion of permanent members must take into account the ability and willingness of countries to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the United Nations."

Power added that "we believe that consideration of new permanent members must be country-specific in nature."

She also reiterated that the US remains opposed to "any alteration or expansion of the veto".

Sources said that the US opposition to aspects of the reform process can be perceived as a "duplicity" since President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member.

India suffers blow as US Russia China oppose UNSC reform talks - The Times of India

 

[Asclepias]

Some animals are more equal than others.

 

[Vikrant]

Some animals are more equal than others.

I guess, India will have to just start pissing on the tent from the outside

 

[Vikrant]

India had hoped that the 70th anniversary of the formation of the United Nations would be the ideal time to reform and expand the UN in keeping with realities of the 21st century. It had particularly hoped that India would find a permanent place in a duly expanded UN Security Council, given its economic growth, its international standing and its record as a participating member of the world body.

What had particularly raised hopes was the fact that UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa achieved what observers saw as a breakthrough, by circulating a text to UN members to form the basis for the negotiations on the reform of the Security Council. Kutesa had also appointed Jamaica's Permanent Representative Courtenay Rattray to chair on his behalf the Intergovernmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform.

However, the United States, along with Russia and China, opposed any negotiations to reform the powerful UNSC by refusing to contribute to a text that will form the basis for the reform process, which is already long overdue. India saw this move by the US and Russia, both of whom have publicly declared support for India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the UN’s high table, as a setback and indeed, a betrayal by friends.

According to sources in the government, China’s move was along expected lines, but New Delhi had counted on support from Washington and Moscow, both of whom decided not to push for it. The sources said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would raise the matter when he visits New York for the 70th anniversary commemoration of the UN.

Russia, which has publicly and repeatedly supported India's candidature as permanent member of the UNSC, said in its letter to UNGA President Kutesa that the "prerogatives of the current Permanent Members of the Security Council, including the use of the veto, should remain intact under any variant of the Council reform".

"The intergovernmental negotiations on the UN Security Council reform should proceed in a calm, transparent and inclusive atmosphere free from artificial deadlines," Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the UN, said.

“In effect, this statement allows the process of talking about reforms to carry on endlessly, with no chance of a resolution, possibly not in our life time,” said a senior source in the Indian government.

India has maintained that the process to expand the powerful UN body "cannot be seen to be an exercise ad infinitum" and a results-based timeline is crucial to achieve a concrete outcome.

"Those who ask for not imposing artificial timelines may be advised to desist from inflicting artificial delays on this process," India's Ambassador to the UN, Asoke Kumar Mukerji said.

India has said it would find it very difficult to meaningfully engage with an unending process.

New Delhi has stressed that 2015 "is a year for decisive action" and for it, another round of inter-governmental negotiations, with no deadlines, as in the past, would "not be acceptable."

Samantha Power, America’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said in her letter to Kutesa that, while the US is "open in principle" to a "modest" expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members,” "we believe that consideration of new permanent members must be country-specific in nature." She also categorically stated that the US was opposed to "any alteration or expansion of the veto".

Sources told the news agency Press Trust of India in New York that the US opposition to aspects of the reform process can be perceived as "duplicity," since President Barack Obama had reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member.

Sources said that India thought that the 70th anniversary of the UN, being commemorated this year, would be an appropriate milestone to power UN reforms, making it reflective of geopolitical realities of 2015, not 1945. If begun this year, New Delhi hoped the process could be completed within the time frame of a year.

A former Indian Ambassador at the UN said, “We thought our friends would support us,” referring to Russia and the USA. “But in reality, everyone wants to hold on to their power.”

According to reports from New York, Russia said that in the situation when positions of the main groups of states - those who support the idea of the UN Security Council's expansion in both categories and those who do not - remain polar, one can advance in the negotiating process only by searching for a compromise.

It said that while it supports broader representation of the developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America on a reformed Security Council, it is important to maintain compact composition of the Council in order for it to provide an adequate and prompt reaction to new challenges.

"The number of members in an enlarged UNSC should not exceed a reasonable level of low twenties," Churkin said in his letter.

China said UNSC reform is "multifaceted", covering not only issues such as enlarging the Council's membership and strengthening representation, but also increasing efficiency and improving working methods. It added that Member States are still seriously divided on the Security Council reform and no general agreement has been reached on any solution so far.

India did, however, receive support from the other two permanent UNSC members France and Britain. The two nations, along with Kazakhstan and Romania, have specifically named in the negotiating text Brazil, Germany, India, Japan and an African representative to be included among the permanent members of a reformed UN Security Council.

India not happy about UNSC setback Russia India Report

 

[Vikrant]

NEW DELHI: In a sudden U-turn, Russia has said it backs the applications of both India and Brazil for permanent membership in the UN Security Council, less than a week after opposing Delhi's entry into the powerful five-nation grouping.

Read more at:
In U-turn Russia supports India s entry into UN Security Council - The Economic Times

 

[Vikrant]

Is Russia a backstabber?

---

NEW DELHI: India's goal of becoming a permanent member of the UN security council took a significant step forward. Amid protests from China, Russia and Pakistan, the UN general assembly on Monday agreed to adopt a negotiating text for security council reforms.

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. We call upon all member states to constructively engage in this process so that the long pending reform of the UN security council can be achieved

...

A big step forward for India: UN adopts negotiating text for security council reforms - The Times of India

 

[Vikrant]

NEW DELHI: France has pledged support for India's claim to permanent membership at the security council.

This was conveyed by the French side to the Indian government, official sources said.

They said France has also welcomed India's engagement in the UN peace-keeping operations expressing the view that the world would be less safe without Indian soldiers.

...

France supports India's claim for permanent security council membership - The Times of India

 

[Vikrant]

I like the title of this article.

---

Ditched by US and betrayed by Russia, but India still tore down Chinese wall

NEW DELHI: There was diplomatic blood on the floor in the tension-filled days before the UNGA decision on Monday to begin text-based negotiations to reform the UN Security Council. Once again, China and Russia led the move to sabotage the process.

A few days before the UNGA session, Chinese and Russian diplomats, in a stealth operation, attempted to insert a couple of paragraphs into the text. If they had succeeded, it would have diluted the entire negotiations on unnecessary technicalities which would have meant the UN would be negotiating UNSC reform for years and years without a decision in sight.

Led by India, a number of countries joined the battle against the Chinese move, even launching a protest at UNGA president, Sam Kutesa's residence over the weekend. Kutesa agreed to remove the offending paragraphs.

China wasn't giving up without a bigger fight. They reached out to a number of national capitals to get the text amended before it reached the floor on Monday. Some countries agreed, but ultimately China failed to get the numbers that India had. In all of this diplomatic warfare, the US stayed strangely silent - either to see whether India could win on its own, or because they are keeping their powder dry to kill the process later, or because they silently supported the Sino-Russian move.

India was not surprised by the Chinese action. And in those last frenzied moments in the UN, it became clear this would be an India-China battle.

But to see Russia on China's side, after supposedly supporting India's case for almost half a century, was a tough one. This week, Russia sent its deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov to meet Sujata Mehta in the MEA, after their performance in the UN. A statement from the Russian embassy said, the two "exchanged opinions on the main aspects of intergovernmental negotiation process considering the current various options for the increase in the United Nations Security Council membership. The Russian Side reaffirmed the readiness to support the Indian candidature for the United Nations Security Council." But India has taken the Russian betrayal hard.

Bloodied but unbowed, China and Russia, say sources, now plan to take the battle one step further. They have been working on the Jamaican government to remove Courtney Rattray, the prime brain behind the UNSC reform text, so he cannot head the negotiations on the text and it can be given to someone unfamiliar with the history of the text. That would deal a blow to India.

The UNGA decision to negotiate UNSC reform succeeded on two counts. First, after 23 years there is a text on which the UN can negotiate a reform agenda. Second, in a fair fight, the 13-country group led by China and including Pakistan and Italy called United for Consensus could not drum up enough support for stalling the process.

Ditched by US and betrayed by Russia, but India still tore down Chinese wall - The Times of India

 

[irosie91]

my personal opinion -----regarding the looming war------is <drumroll> india should
stay out of it. ---my prediction is <more drum> pakistan will join up with the axis powers--china, iran, syria, russia and whatever shiite populations there are around the world. It might be difficult for sunni Pakistan------but I so predict -----you can
be glad (I think) the war will keep that country busy-----and china busy, too.
don't quote me-----there is a slight chance that I am wrong