Time ripe for reforms in UNSC: Tharoor

Delivering UN Day Lecture on 'United Nations: Reform or Perish?', the former UN official said the Security Council has to change sooner or later.

"The nest argument for reform is that the absence of reform could discredit the United Nations itself. Imagine a 2020, a British or French veto of a resolution affecting southern Asia with India absent from the table, or of one affecting southern Africa with South Africa not voting. Who would take the Council seriously then?" Tharoor said.

He said the present Security Council reflects the geopolitical realities of 1945 and not of today and therefore the body is "ripe for reform to bring it into the second decade of the twenty first century".

Talking about countries which are vying for a permanent seat in the UNSC, Tharoor said, "In Asia, India, as the world's largest democracy, its fifth largest economy and a long standing contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, seems an obvious contender.

"But Pakistan, which fancies itself India's strategic rival on the sub continent, is unalterably opposed, and to some extent Indonesia seems to feel diminished by he prospect of an Indian seat," he said.

Tharoor claimed that the US' isolation in recent years on various issues, notably on Middle East, makes the American administration profoundly wary of giving new powers to countries that may stand in its way.

"It was striking that Washington's support of a seat for Germany faded away in the wake of Germany's vocal opposition to the 2003 Iraq war, and it took years to formally endorse India's bid because it was conscious that New Delhi votes more often against Washington in UN Forums than with it," he said.

Though he had left the UN five years, he said, he has been asked by people when is India going to become a permanent member in UNSC.

"The question goes to the heart of the new set of aspirations that prevails across the Indian middle-class and its elite for a meaningful role on the global stage.

"The short answer I have been giving them for more than a decade is 'not this year, and probably not the next', but there are so many misconceptions around the country (and the world) about this issue that a long answer is necessary," he said.

He said for a decade now, the Group of Four -- Brazil, Germany, India and Japan or the G4 -- have been in the forefront of an attempt to win passage of Security Council reform, fully expecting to be the beneficiaries of any expansion in the category of permanent members. "They have been repeatedly thwarted," he said.

Tharoor said he believes that the UNSC has to change sooner or later and the best argument for reform is that the absence of reform could discredit the UN itself.