Non-representative Security Council not equipped to handle current challenge: India

A non-representative Security Council is simply not equipped to handle the current challenges of the world, India has told the world body, reiterating the need to reform and expand the 15-member powerful unit of the UN.

Addressing a special meeting of the UN Security Council during an open debate on "Addressing complex contemporary challenges to International Peace and Security," Akbaruddin said the reasons for the lack of success of international structures designed seven decades ago in dealing with the complex challenges of today are self evident.

"A non-representative Council, designed many long years ago to maintain the balance of power among competing rivals, is simply not equipped to handle the challenges that have changed beyond recognition in the intervening decades," India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin said.

"An instrument that is no longer considered legitimate and has lost its credibility cannot be our hope for salvation," Akbaruddin said.

India, a country of 1.25 billion people remains out of the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

Four of its five members – US, Britain, France and Russia – have supported its membership. China has been opposed to this so far. And the move to reform and expand the Security Council is itself moving at a snail's pace, resulting in frustration in the international community.

New realities cannot be addressed by using old paradigms, Akbaruddin told the Security Council.

"To tackle contemporary challenges, we need to move beyond old molds," he said.

"Until then, 'Speech Acts' like today's debate will remain just that having little impact on the billions of "we the people", who are striving to live peacefully in a safe and secure manner," he said criticicising those opposed to the Security Council reform.

Various other countries also echoed for the reforms of the Security Council.

"A reformed Security Council, with a more democratic composition, a wider membership among developing countries and more transparent working methods, would increase its effectiveness in facing the complex challenges to international peace and security," said Alex Giacomelli, Charge d'Affairs of Brazil's Permanent Mission to the UN.

"By more accurately reflecting the realities of the 21st century and including more diverse perspectives on present problems, it would preserve the legitimacy and credibility of the UN and the multilateral system as a whole, allowing us to address the true root causes of contemporary conflicts," he said.

"The world has changed, yet we are stuck with anachronistic structures, which, it is no surprise, are found wanting and ineffective in dealing with complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security," said Stephen Ntsoane, first secretary of the South African mission to the UN.

"We need greater representation and a stronger voice for those closest to and most able to assist in an effective response to these crises," he said.

"We need a Council that is adapted to proper multilateral solutions to the threats posed by the world of today, marked by consistent and non-discriminatory decision-making and the pursuance of collective, rather than narrow national security interests," Ntsoane said.

Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Maleeha lodhi said proliferation of conflicts today is a clear sign of the need for urgent action.

"The proposed reform of the peace and security architecture is necessary but not sufficient to make a real difference," she said.

"Fundamental change in the way we deal with conflicts is required. Only then will we be able to succeed in our collective quest for sustainable and enduring peace and security," lodhi said.