India on Tuesday expressed strong disappointment over the lack of progress in reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying 17 rounds of Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) have failed to produce any concrete outcome. New Delhi asserted that the reform process cannot be held hostage by the narrow interests of a few member states.

The remarks came after the UN General Assembly decided to extend the negotiations into its 81st session, marking the 18th consecutive year of discussions without a definitive roadmap or conclusion.

India Calls for Time-Bound Reform Process

Joining the consensus on extending the negotiations, India reiterated that comprehensive reform of the 15-member Security Council is urgently needed, particularly as the body faces growing criticism over its inability to respond effectively to global conflicts.

India said meaningful reform must move beyond repeated discussions and shift towards text-based negotiations with clearly defined timelines and measurable milestones.

It also maintained that any credible reform process should expand both the permanent and non-permanent categories of the Security Council while ensuring greater representation for developing countries and the Global South.

India Says Current Process Has Yielded No Progress

Speaking after the adoption of the oral decision at the United Nations, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said the latest round of negotiations had failed to generate any meaningful progress.

“The 80th IGN session, like the previous sessions, has not been successful in forging any outcomes or initiatives that could pave the way for implementing real reforms. The cluster-debates have largely been a reiteration of known positions of member states and groups,” Harish said.

Referring to the prolonged negotiations, he remarked that despite 17 rounds of discussions, “there is no liberation in sight”, questioning how much longer the international community would have to wait for meaningful reform.

Harish also said repeated discussions without tangible outcomes weakened confidence in efforts to make the United Nations more representative and effective.

Security Council’s Credibility at Stake

India said there was growing disappointment among member states and the wider international community over the Security Council’s inability to respond decisively to conflicts across the world.

Harish said the need for comprehensive reform had never been more urgent and argued that the process should not be obstructed by the narrow and divisive interests of a small group of countries.

He added that India remained committed to contributing constructively to the reform process and expressed hope that the 81st session of the IGN would mark a meaningful departure from previous years.

India Continues Campaign for UNSC Seat

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched India’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the 2028-29 term.

Elections for the seat will be held in June next year, with India set to contest against Tajikistan for the Asia-Pacific Group’s lone vacancy.

India, which last served on the Security Council during 2021-22, has consistently argued that expanding only the non-permanent category would not address the imbalance in decision-making powers enjoyed by the Council’s five permanent members.

The Uniting for Consensus group, comprising countries including Canada, Pakistan, Türkiye and Italy, continues to advocate expanding only non-permanent membership and has proposed enlarging the Council to 27 members without creating additional permanent seats.

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