India concluded its eighth stint at UNSC

India concluded its eighth stint at UNSC

Subject : International Relations

Section :International Organisation

Context:

• India completed its eighth stint at UNSC as a non-permanent member.

Achievements of India’s two year stint:

• The focus area of India was maritime security, terrorism, UN peacekeeping, reformed multilateralism and the Global South.
• India was elected Chair of three important UNSC Committees: the Taliban Sanctions Committee, Libyan Sanctions Committee and Counter­terrorism Committee.
• The Prime Minister of India chaired for the first time a UNSC meeting on maritime security.
• The Presidential Statement issued was the first holistic document on this issue which, for the first time, had a direct reference to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as international law setting out the legal framework in the context of maritime activities. It also called for, inter alia, freedom of navigation, anti­piracy and combating terror and transnational crime at sea.
• India has enhanced the focus on terrorism. As a Chair of the UNSC Counter­terrorism Committee (CTC), the CTC meeting to India in October 2022.This resulted in the listing of  Abdul Rehman Makki, Deputy Amir/Chief of the Lashkar E Taiba as a terrorist.
•  In August 2021, India piloted the first UNSC resolution in more than five decades, calling for accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.

More about UNSC

• The Security Council was established by the UN Charter in 1945. It is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
• The other 5 organs of the United Nations are—the General Assembly (UNGA), the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat.
• Its primary responsibility is to work to maintain international peace and security.
• The council is headquartered in New York. 

Members:

• The council has 15 members: the five permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
• The five permanent members are the United States, the Russian Federation, France, China and the United Kingdom.
• India, for the eighth time, has entered the UNSC as a non-permanent member last year (2021) and will stay on the council for two years i.e 2021-22.
• Each year, the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members (out of ten in total) for a two-year term. The ten non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis.
• The council’s presidency is a capacity that rotates every month among its 15 members.

Voting Powers:

• Each member of the Security Council has one vote. Decisions of the Security Council on matters are made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members. A “No” vote from one of the five permanent members blocks the passage of the resolution.

Any member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security Council may participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought before the Security Council whenever the latter considers that the interests of that member are specially affected.