India recognises UNSC reform not easy, cannot be denied forever: EAM Jaishankar

By Reena Bhardwaj External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said reforming the chronically deadlocked Security Council is not an easy process, however, it can not be denied forever.

Even though the US has encouraged India in favour of SC reform in recent weeks, Jaishankar said UNSC reform is a collective effort. "I think it's a collective effort that members of the UN have to make and we have been pressing the reform effort," he said while addressing a press conference in Washington.

Jaishankar said there is a recognition that a limited group of cynics that are 'reluctant' to UNSC reform efforts, but India needs to stay focused. "You also know where the reluctance comes from, let's stay focused on it. We have never thought that it was an easy process, but we do believe that the need for reform cannot be denied forever," Jaishankar told reporters.

As part of the US push to strengthen the United Nations, US President Joe Biden in a speech at the General Assembly reiterated his commitment to reforming the UN Security Council. Biden said he believes the time has come for the institution to become more inclusive so that it can better respond to the needs of today's world.

"My understanding is that the position that President Biden put forward is the most explicit and specific articulation of the US support for reform of the UN including the Security Council," Jaishankar told reporters. "How this advances where it goes, I think depends on all of us, the members of the UN, and where we take it, it's not it's not the responsibility of a single country, however powerful," Jaishankar added.

In the recently concluded UNGA, the issue of UN reforms and India's Security Council bid was backed by a number of countries. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called for UNSC reform that should include representation of India, Brazil and the African continent at the UN Security Council.

Addressing the 77th session of the UNGA, Costa advocated for a Security Council that incorporates a comprehensive view of security and gives fair representation to small countries. "We need a representative, agile and functional security council that is able to respond to the challenges of the 21st century without being paralyzed and whose actions are scrutinised by the other members of the United Nations," he said.

In his UNGA address, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov too backed India for becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council. "We see prospective of making Security Council more democratic via representation of countries from Africa, Asia & Latin America. India and Brazil, in particular, are key international actors and should be counted for permanent membership in the council," he said.