Justifying U.N veto Among Permanent Members

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The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution requiring the five permanent members of the Security Council to justify their use of the veto.

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Though the resolution was planned two years ago, the urgency was felt after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine recently.
Liechtenstein is the primary sponsor of the resolution but later on France, Britain and Germany along with 100 more counties too joined as co-sponsors.

Need for resolution

The objective of the resolution is to make the permanent members more accountable while exercising their right to veto a Security Council resolution.
Right to veto is the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to veto or reject any “substantive” resolution.
The Security Council is the most powerful organ of the United Nations.
Five permanent members of the Security Council are:

Resolution stresses on the responsibility of a permanent member to explain its decision to the General Assembly.
Proponents of the resolution voiced that the veto has been abused by the veto-holders to further their interests in the international geopolitical arena and also to put their rivals in tight spots.

Trajectory of Veto

So far more than 200 Security Council proposals have been vetoed.
Proposals ranging from Korean War, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, climate change, reporting on weapons stockpiles to governance of a part of the Indian Ocean nation Comoros.
Soviet Russia (now Russia) has exercised the most vetoes so far, followed by the US.

Veto usage by permanent members

India’s stand

India so far has not been a co-sponsor of the resolution. It has maintained a strategic autonomy so as to not fall in either camp.
It’s one of the members of G-4 nations who have potential candidacy for permanent membership at the Security Council.
G4 comprises Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Germany and Japan have joined the resolution as co-sponsors but Brazil and India have refrained.

Security Council Reforms

The Security Council is charged under the UN Charter with ensuring international peace and security. Its permanent members have the right to exercise veto against the Security Council resolution.
Reforms of the Security Council have been discussed and debated for more than 40 years now but nothing substantial came out of it.
Of late there has been increased demand to revamp the UN’s most powerful organ to reflect current global realities compared to power equations post-World War II when the United Nations was created.
Earlier attempts have failed because of permanent members not wanting the dilution of their veto and also because of rivalries between Soviet Russia and U.S led blocks.

Source: TH

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