US president Joe Biden backs India's bid for UNSC permanent seat; What will be its impact?

In a development that can have a big impact, US President Joe Biden endorsed India's candidature for a permanent seat at  United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. joint statement by two sides re, "President Biden applauded India’s strong leership during its UN Security Council Presidency in August 2021. In this context, President Biden also reiterated US support for India’s permanent membership on a reformed UN Security Council and for or countries who are important champions of multilateral cooperation and aspire to permanent seats on UN Security Council."

dressing a press briefing, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla also mentioned that Joe Biden h appreciated India's cooperation with US in UNSC. This is seen as an ackwledgement of India's growing stature on world st. However, Barack Obama too h extended his support for India's bid for a UNSC seat way back in vember 2010 when he was on his first official visit to India as US president.

Impact of a permanent UNSC seat

Responsible for maintenance of international peace and security, UN Security Council has 5 permanent members — US, UK, China, France and Russia. At present, India is one of 10 n-permanent members, who is elected by United Nations General Assembly for a two-year term. importance of UNSC is underscored by fact that it has power of determining a threat to peace, imposing sanctions or even authorising use of force if need be. While 9 votes are required to pass a decision, this has to include concurring votes of all permanent members.

Essentially, P-5 countries have a veto power which implies that proposal can be approved if eir of m disagrees. If India does become a permanent member in near future, it too will have power to veto any decision which country deems against its national interest. In recent past, China rushed to defence of its "all-wear friend" Pakistan by repeatedly blocking UNSC's move to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohamm chief Masood Azhar under 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee. 

On May 1, 2019, China finally lifted its veto after persistent diplomatic efforts by India resulting in Azhar finally being declared a global terrorist. A permanent seat on UNSC would also help enhance country's geopolitical importance as India would be at par with China's influence. Thus, India might play a leing role in global issues such as terrorism, Afghanistan crisis, climate change, tre deals and so forth. This also assumes significance in wake of growing China-Pakistan nexus that is endangering western and eastern front. 

(Im: Twitter/AP)