Syllabus: GS2/International Relation
In News
- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, at the International Conference of Chief Justices in Lucknow, urged the need for reform of the UN and international order to effectively address global conflicts and humanitarian crises.
Need For Reform
- Outdated Power Structures: The UN Security Council (UNSC) still reflects the power distribution of 1945:
- Five permanent members (P5) with veto power (The veto has repeatedly stalled the UNSC’s ability to act on Ukraine war, Israel–Palestine conflict, Syrian humanitarian crisis & Myanmar crisis)
- No representation for major developing countries
- Africa and Latin America entirely unrepresented in permanent seats
- Emergence of New Threats: The UN was not conceived to handle modern challenges such as cyber warfare, AI weaponization, global terrorism, energy supply disruptions, climate-induced displacement, and pandemic-scale health emergencies. These threats require updated multilateral rules, norms, and institutional capacities.
- Declining Credibility of Multilateral Institutions: Organizations such as the WHO, WTO, IMF, and UNSC face accusations of bias, political interference, inefficient responses, funding shortfalls, and slow decision-making, which harm the credibility of the global rules-based order and encourage unilateral actions by dominant states.
- Marginalization of the Global South: Developing countries argue that their essential priorities—development finance, climate justice, debt relief, and equitable technology access—are sidelined in current global governance.
India’s Position on Reform
- Expansion of UNSC: India supports the G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) proposal for increasing the number of permanent members to include major developing countries and ensuring better representation of regions underrepresented today. There is also a call to restrict misuse of veto power.
- Advocacy for Global South: Through leadership in forums like the G20 Presidency, Global South Summit, IBSA, and BRICS+, India pushes for an inclusive international order.
- Reformed Multilateralism: India emphasizes predictable development financing, fair trade protocols, climate equity, and technology sharing as pillars of a reformed system.
Way Forward
- The call for a new United Nations and international order is not about discarding the existing system but about revitalising multilateralism to meet 21st-century challenges.
- Developing frameworks to manage emerging domains like cyber, AI, space, pandemics, and climate-induced migration.
- Strengthening multilateral institutions with transparent governance mechanisms.
- Enhancing the role of regional organizations such as the African Union, ASEAN, European Union, IORA, and QUAD.
Source: TH
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