Politics · India · 2 hrs ago
India calls for equal veto rights for permanent members of an expanded UN Council
India called for comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council in a statement at the United Nations.
India's representative, Parvathaneni Harish, said any new permanent members should have the same rights and responsibilities as current permanent members, including the power to veto decisions.
The Council currently has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
India said vetoes should be used with restraint and not for narrow political interests, especially on issues of international peace and security.
Harish said the veto has been used 331 times on around 200 resolutions, and argued that proposals for permanent members with fewer powers would entrench inequality within the Council.
He also said a UN accountability measure introduced in 2022 had not changed veto use, and pointed to informal ways a single member can block some Council statements and decisions.
No next step in the reform process was specified.
India called for comprehensive reforms to the UN Security Council and said all permanent members of an expanded Council should have equal rights and responsibilities, including veto power.
India’s permanent representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, said the veto should be used with restraint and not for narrow political interests.
India opposed creating a separate category of permanent members with no veto or fewer powers, saying it would deepen inequality.
Harish said the veto had been used 331 times on around 200 resolutions during the UN’s history.
He also said a single Council member could effectively block some statements and sanctions committee decisions under the practice of consensus.
- Who
- India, represented by its permanent representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish.
- What
- India called for comprehensive Security Council reforms and equal rights and responsibilities, including veto power, for all permanent members of a reformed Council.
- When
- October 27, 2026, according to the articles’ publication dates.
- Where
- At the United Nations.
- Why
- India said equal rights would address inequity in the Council and argued that veto power must be exercised with restraint.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
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- India’s representative
- Parvathaneni Harish
- Veto use
- 331 times on around 200 resolutions
- Permanent members
- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States
- UN accountability mechanism
- General Assembly debates after a permanent member exercises its veto
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What people are saying
as long as the veto exists, it must be held by all permanent members of a reformed Council.
It should not be an instrument of narrow political expediency.
A new category of permanent members, with or without the veto, would only further complicate a discussion that is already difficult, and would further entrench the very inequity we are seeking to correct.
The veto is not only what is cast in the open.