UN fails to address new challenges to peace, security: India

United Nations, Oct 2: Pushing for UN Security Council reforms, India on Oct 1 said that the world body appears to have become an "ineffective institution" as it has failed to address the new challenges to international peace and security.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the "historic" occasion of its 70th anniversary was an opportune time for "historic" outcomes.

Targeting the world body, Swaraj said it "appears as an ineffective institution" when gauged on the parameters of whether it has been able to prevent conflicts, managed to find permanent solution to these conflicts or showing the path of peace to the world which is going the way of violence.

"It has failed to effectively address the new challenges to international peace and security.... when we ask ourselves whether we have been able to prevent conflicts taking place in several parts of the world, the answer is 'no'."

"If we ask whether we were able to find permanent solution to these conflicts, the answer is 'no'. If we ask whether we were able to show the path of peace to a world which is going on the way of violence, the answer is 'no'," Swaraj said, addressing the UNGA.

She said that the world today is ravaged by war in three continents with the Security Council being "unable or unwilling to stanch the flow of blood".

Traditional solutions that emphasize force, Swaraj said, have only proven to exacerbate problems. She emphasised that UN Security Council reform is the "most urgent and pressing need" and called for inclusion of more developing nations in the decision making structures of the world body.

Swaraj said that in order to preserve the "centrality and legitimacy" of the UN as the custodian of global peace, security and development, the reform of the Security Council is its "most urgent and pressing need."

"This is the need of the hour. How can we have a Security Council in 2015 which still reflects the geo-political architecture of 1945? How can we have a Security Council which still does not give place as a permanent member to Africa and Latin America?," she questioned.

Swaraj underscored the need for including more developing nations in the decision making structures of the Security Council and to change the way it does business by doing away with outdated and non-transparent working methods.

"Imparting more legitimacy and balance to the Council would restore its credibility and equip it to confront the challenges of our times," she siad.

She voiced India's appreciation for the leadership of former UN General Assembly President Sam Kutesa and chair of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations Courtnay Rattray for putting on table a negotiating text, a significant achievement in over two decades of discussions.

"This first, but critical step, must be the springboard for action in this historic 70th Session of the UNGA," she said.

PTI