At the high table

What will India do with UNSC membership?

Now that India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), for a two year term, the government and India’s diplomatic and strategic policy community have to decide what to do with it. There is no doubt that India has come a long way from the ignominious defeat of 1996, when India lost the UNSC Asian seat to Japan 40:142 votes, winning this time 187:5 votes. India’s economic rise in the past decade and its new strategic relationships with several major and rising powers have all contributed to this impressive vote in its favour. However, getting into the Security Council is only the first step. India’s problem is that on many vital global and regional issues, there is no genuine national consensus at home. Given the weakness of inherently fractious and myopic coalition politics, there is always the danger that on vital issues, the government may find its hands and feet tied when it comes to taking a position at the UNSC.

Hence, now that India is a UNSC member, the government should pro-actively seek to build a national consensus on foreign policy issues of vital concern to India. In a democracy, there will always be some critics of government. That is both a necessary and a valuable aspect of being a democracy. However, within the national mainstream, there has to be some consensus on important international and regional issues where India would be required to articulate its views at the UNSC. Apart from building political consensus on international issues, the government must also revitalise and strengthen its foreign policy machinery. India has one of the smallest foreign offices among major and rising powers. Its institutional capacity and capability for diplomacy has not kept pace with the challenges of the new post-Cold War and increasingly multipolar world that India now deals with. Increasing recruitment at the entry level will not suffice. India needs a quantum increase in manpower and intellectual capability in its foreign policy machinery in a short period of time. This can only come from lateral entry of professionals from other walks of life into diplomatic service. This challenge will become even more pressing once India takes over the UNSC Asia seat from Japan.