India all set to become non-permanent UNSC member for 8th time
New York/UNI/IBNS As the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will elect five new non-permanent members to the council on Wednesday, chances of India grabbing a seat from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term is almost certain.
With its election for the eighth term, India will try to use the opportunity to further bolster its claim for permanent membership in the Security Council which it has been pushing for years along with other G4 nations, Brazil, Germany, and Japan, asserting that the current council is outdated and not in sync with the changed realities.
India is the sole candidate vying for the lone seat from the group. As a single seat is vacated each year from the Asia-Pacific group, only one country can make it to the UNSC.
The candidature of India was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan, in June last year. Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members out of ten in total, for a two-year term, starting Jan 1.
India's last stint at the UNSC was in 2011-12. This will be the eighth two-year term as a non-permanent member.
Candidates such as India need two-thirds majority of the cast vote to win.
According to the reports, there is uncertainty over the number of countries that can vote as some like Venezuela are barred due to non-payment of membership dues.
Further, the voting must be done physically and not virtually or electronically, said reports.
Mexico is the other endorsed country from Latin American and the Caribbean Group seat, Canada, Norway and Ireland are contesting for two seats in the Western European and Other Group and Kenya and Djibouti are in fray for the African Group seat.
The Security Council has 15 members, of which five are permanent members- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China — and 10 are non-permanent.
For the first time in 75 years, voting will take place in a phased manner with groups of 20 or so allowed on to the floor of the general assembly, where the voting takes place, in order to maintain the social distancing norms, said a Hindustan Times report.
In all, 193 UN member countries are likely to vote to elect five non-permanent members.
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