RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1370
TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.09.2020
EXPANSION OF UNSC AND OTHER REFORMS
1370. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR GUPTA:
Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:
(a) the efforts made by India during the last three years for emphasizing the need for expansion of the UN Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories and for having reforms in international bodies like World Trade Organisation, International
Monetary Fund and World Health Organisation;
(b) the details in this regard; and
(c) if not, whether Government would make every effort in this regard ?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]
(a) to (c) Government has accorded great priority to getting permanent membership for India in an expanded UN Security Council that reflects contemporary global realities. India in collaboration with other pro-reform countries has been consistently making
efforts to build support among the UN Member States for expansion of the UNSC, in both permanent and non-permanent categories.
India has been maintaining that global institutions need to be reformed, starting from the United Nations and its Security Council. Reformed multilateralism has been our motto for a purposeful reform of existing structures, which must continue to serve the
international community even more in this complex and uncertain times.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered a keynote address virtually at this year’s High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) session on Friday, 17th July 2020 at the United Nations in New York and reiterated India’s call
for a ‘reformed multilateralism’ in a post- COVID-19 world which reflects the realities of the contemporary world.
India is actively engaged in the ongoing Inter-Governmental Negotiations on UNSC reform at the UN and has been working alongside other reform-oriented countries through its membership of the G-4 (India, Japan, Brazil and Germany) and the L.69 Group (cross-regional
grouping of developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America). The issue of UNSC reforms is discussed in all pertinent bilateral and multilateral meetings, including at the highest levels.
‘New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System (NORMS)’ is going to be one of the key priorities of India’s tenure as non- permanent member of the UNSC in 2021-22. The call for urgent reform of governance structures of multilateral bodies has been one
of India’s main priorities at high-level bilateral and multilateral engagements.
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