Ahead of 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) that began on September 13, 2022, Abdulla Shahid, the Foreign Minister of the Maldives, said that his country wanted reforms in the UN Security Council (UNSC), as soon as possible. According to the Minister, the existing structure of the UNSC does not represent current geopolitics. At the same time, he admitted that there was a disagreement among UN member-countries on this issue.

Shahid, who visited India in the last week of August, discussed the issue with the top political leadership in New Delhi. Shahid, the outgoing President of UNGA, stressed: “I have urged member states, appealed to member states, if you want the UN to be regarded as credible, we will have to make sure that we become relevant to the current geopolitical realities of the day. We have to change the composition of the Security Council and the way that it functions.“

India has been trying hard to become a permanent member of the UNSC for a long time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has discussed the issue with various global leaders. However, China and Pakistan are against India’s permanent membership.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister of the Maldives said that India, along with his own country, should be recoganised as permanent members of the Security Council. He stressed that this step was inevitable to remain relevant in the international system. When the UNSC fails to ensure global peace and security, the General Assembly has to take the lead, he added.

The visiting Minister appreciated India’s contribution to the UN, stating: “More importantly to mention how appreciative the UN is of the outstanding commitment that India has for multilateralism. India is a member of the Security Council and continues to highlight many of these cherished principles at the UN. I also met the UN country team here who are doing outstanding work in reaching out to the people of India, in assisting the development work.“

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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