AT THE coming new session of the United Nations General Assembly, to begin in October, lobbying is expected to be intensified for expansion of UN Security Council (UNSC) seats for both permanent and non-permanent members.
And the countries of the Latin American/Caribbean region are expected to once again become actively involved in efforts to influence, in particular, which of the more deserving states are chosen as new permanent as well as non-permanent members.
The intention is to increase the current 15-member Security Council beyond the current five permanent countries — USA, China, Russia, Britain and France, in addition to expanding the rotating non-permanent membership base from ten to ensure greater representation by nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America, consistent with the overall goal of greater democratization of the world body.
Last October, Brazil and India were among the newly-elected non-permanent members on the Security Council for a two-year term. They are also both members of what is known as the BRIC bloc of nations, with growing economic and political influence critical for forging international peace and development.
The BRIC group is comprised of Brazil, Russia, India and China. Guyana is proud to have with all four of them longstanding good political, cultural and economic relations. In the case of India, which has long been seeking a permanent seat on the UNSC, that goal now seems much more obtainable by the time it concludes its current two-year stint as a non-permanent member in 2013.
As such, India would share enormous influence, as now an increasingly major player in international economic and political developments with China. While China has been quietly signaling its disposition to shift in favour of India’s quest for permanent member status on the Security Council, President Barack Obama went on record last November in declaring firm support by the USA for this very significant goal of the government in New Delhi.
During his then official visit to India, President Obama told a special session of the Indian Parliament:  “In Asia and around the world, India is not simply emerging. India has emerged…,” and that his administration was committed to help create “a deeper partnership of the world’s two largest democracies…”
Significantly, at last April’s meeting of the BRIC group of countries, China had alluded to its recognition of India’s status in global affairs and, according to a report in ‘India Today’, indicated support for its “aspiration” to play a greater role in the UN. That was interpreted to mean a new approach by the government in Beijing in relation to India’s efforts to become a permanent member of the Security Council.
While small and developing nations like ours in the Caribbean hardly have the political clout to ensure India succeeds in attaining its objective, our region, nevertheless, and the CARICOM bloc of countries in particular, have always indicated support for India, in the wider global context, to widen and strengthen the democratic functioning of the UN.
CARICOM, as part of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group of countries, would be aware of the decision of African states to declare support for India’s expanding initiatives to secure a permanent seat on the UN Security Council as reported last month by ‘The Economic Times’.