Ukraine war is one issue that makes it clear that the UNSC needs to be changed, says the head of the UNGA.
Csaba Kórosi, president of the UN General Assembly, said on Monday that the UN Security Council (UNSC) is “paralysed” and “dysfunctional” in its “present form” because it hasn’t been able to make a decision since the Russia-Ukraine war began. He said this to show that the UN needs to change.
Earlier in the day, Krosi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi also talked about how important it is to change the UNSC.
In a statement, the Prime Minister’s Office said that during the meeting, Korosi “praised India’s transformative initiatives for communities, including in the area of water resource management and conservation.” Mr. Korosi praised India’s efforts to reform multilateralism and stressed how important it is for India to be at the forefront of reforming global institutions.
In a tweet sent later in the evening, the UNGA president said, “Glad to call on PM Modi. I liked how he focused on finding simple, scalable, and long-lasting solutions that can change societies. Talked about how India can help solve the real water crisis through projects like the Global Water Info System.”
The PMO said that Modi thanked Korosi “for making India his first bilateral visit since taking office” and that he liked Korosi’s “approach to solving global problems based on science and technology.” Modi also told Korosi that “India will give its full support to his initiatives during his Presidency of the 77th UNGA, including the UN 2023 Water Conference.”
“The Prime Minister stressed how important it is to reform the multilateral system, including the UN Security Council, so that it truly reflects the geopolitical realities of today,” the document said.
During his three-day trip to India, Kórosi met with the Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, and the Minister of Petroleum, Hardeep Singh Puri.
Krosi said, “Mr. Jaishankar and I talked about the war in Ukraine. It’s clear that the Security Council needs to be changed because of things like the war in Ukraine. The Security Council was set up in 1945 to be the main group in charge of making sure there are no wars or big fights. All disagreements should be settled peacefully.”
Now, he said, the whole world can see that one permanent Security Council member, Russia, “aggressed its neighbour and took over its land, and the Security Council is powerless to do anything about it because one of its own members has veto power.”
Krosi said that the UN Charter gave each country the right to veto 77 years ago to encourage each other. However, the power is now being used to block.
Krosi talked about India’s role in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine. He said that New Delhi was very involved in everything that had to do with Ukraine.
Krosi said that reforms are needed in the UNSC and that, even though the permanent members haven’t been very enthusiastic about reforms in the past, they have said that they are willing to think about them.
When asked if he talked about cross-border terrorism, Korosi said, “It’s not on the agenda today, but I know how important this issue is in this country and in some other parts of the world.”
When asked about China breaking India’s sovereignty, he said, “All conflicts must be solved peacefully.”
Krosi also met with people from NITI Aayog and talked about “ideas and solutions for saving water and moving to a circular economy.”
