India says expansion essential for UNSC credibility

United Nations: India, an aspirant for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, has said that an expansion of the decision making organ was essential for its credibility and the international community's continued confidence.

"Genuine reform in the working methods of the Security Council really requires a comprehensive reform in the membership of the Council, with expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories," India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said Wednesday.

"This is essential both for the credibility and continued confidence of the international community in this institution," he said during an open debate in the Security Council on its working methods.

The Council's composition, rooted in the situation in 1945, as well as its working methods, are both divorced from contemporary reality of international relations, Puri said.

Outlining an Indian perspective on how the Council could better its performance, he said: "The permanent members of the Security Council must recognise, not only individually but also collectively, that the Council must be reformed to make it reflect the contemporary realities of the international system."

"Second, the international community as a whole must be cognisant that enlarging the Security Council to reflect contemporary geopolitical realities would improve its representative character."

It would also increase the representation of developing countries, which comprise the vast majority of UN membership, who are ready, capable and willing to shoulder responsibility and contribute through all required means for maintenance of international peace and security, he said.

"There is need for real improvement in its working methods to enhance the Council's legitimacy, effectiveness and efficiency," Puri said while asserting "cosmetic changes will not help. Real improvements need change in both process and approach, which requires reform of the composition of the Council".

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