Three former US Presidents – George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump – had strongly backed India’s demand for a Permanent Membership of the UN Security Council. Newly-elected President Joe Biden, too, issued multiple statements in support of India’s Permanent Membership during his Electoral Campaign in 2020. However, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield is reluctant to issue a clear statement on India’s bid for Permanent UNSC membership. She recently said that it was a matter of discussion! As expected, her statement has made the South Asian Nation a little uncomfortable. So far, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has not commented on the statement issued by the new Biden-Harris Administration’s nominee for Permanent Representative at the UN.

One of the toughest obstacles to India’s Permanent Membership in the UNSC is China, one of the five Permanent Members. The Asian Giant, which has the Veto Power, openly opposes India’s bid. Neighbouring Pakistan, too, is against India’s bid for Permanent UNSC membership. The situation is similar for Germany, Brazil and Japan, with their bids getting opposed by Italy, Mexico and Egypt, respectively. And, the US is well aware of these! Still, the three former US Presidents had ignored that to back India’s bid! Surprisingly, Linda Thomas-Greenfield remained elusive on Permanent UNSC seat for India during a recent Senate Panel hearing. With this, the stand, taken by previous three Administrations of Bush, Obama and Trump, has moved into limbo.

During the confirmation hearing whether India, Germany and Japan should be Permanent Members of the UNSC, Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon asked Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat with more than 35 years in US Foreign Service, “Do you think India, Germany and Japan should become Permanent Members?” She replied: “I think there was some debate about their being a member of the Security Council, and there are some strong debates about it.” Thomas-Greenfield added: “But, I also know that there are other people in their area who oppose that they should be representatives of their area. That is also an ongoing debate.”

Experts are of the opinion that the senior US diplomat made the statement in a clear reference to the Coffee Club or the Uniting for Consensus. Coffee Clubs from countries, like Italy, Pakistan, Mexico and Egypt, oppose Permanent Membership bids of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil.

It, now, seems that the Biden Administration might indulge in creating further troubles for India in coming years…

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das