G20 reflects contemporary realities much more than UNSC: Sashi Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said the G20 could evolve in a way that might threaten the primacy of the UN Security Council, as it reflects today’s contemporary realities much more and is not “hamstrung” by a charter.

Speaking at a session at the Raisina Dialogue, Tharoor said the United Nations will survive and even though it may not be the UN that Harry Trueman envisioned in 1945, it will still be the nucleus of international cooperation.

“What I see rising is a plethora of other forms of international cooperation. The most striking of them is the G20, which, unlike the UN, is not handicapped by a charter, so they can write their own rules.

“The G20 is a far more representative body than the UN Security Council because while that body reflects the geopolitical realities of 1945, the G20 both reflects much more today’s contemporary realities with 20 most significant economies on it plus the EU and now the AU.... they have no bar on taking new members as and when a country acquires the economic size, heft and military strength to deserve to be there,” the former UN undersecretary general said.

So far, the G20 is a macro-economic body and it has no role in peace and security and in geopolitics in the conventional sense, but it is not hamstrung by a charter, he said.

“This forum could evolve in a way that could threaten the primacy of the Security Council,” Tharoor said at the session on the evolving role of the UN in global governance.

However, he expressed optimism that the UN will survive.

“It may not be the UN that Harry Trueman envisioned in 1945, but I think it will be the nucleus of international cooperation. The strength and success of international cooperation will wax and wane as the years go by, depending on the crises,” the Congress leader said.