Enhancing counter-terrorism action by UNSC among main priorities: MEA on India's election to UN body

Hours after getting elected to the UN Security Council, India on Thursday said enhancing counter-terrorism action by the powerful UN body and depoliticising the process of putting sanctions on terror entities will be among its top priorities.

India was overwhelmingly elected as a non-permanent member of the powerful UN Security Council for a two-year term in an unprecedented election, in which envoys from the 192 member states voted wearing masks and in adherence to strict social distancing norms in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Briefing the media on India's election to the UN body, Secretary West in the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, said the country looks forward to being the voice for all those who are not represented on the Council.

He said this was one of India's best performance in the UNSC elections as the country, the endorsed candidate from the Asia-Pacific States, won 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast in the elections for the five non-permanent seats of the Security Council. Talking about the priorities of India as a member of the UNSC, he said enhancing counter terrorism action by the Council is one of the main priorities for the country.

"Earlier also, when India was a member of the Security Council during 2011-12, we had chaired the United Nations counter-terrorism committee and had brought in the concept of 'zero tolerance to terrorism'," Swarup said.

During the coming term, India will work to enhance global action against terrorism, their supporters and sympathisers, and safe havens by seeking the streamlining of the process of putting sanctions on terrorists and terrorist entities, he said. "The process of sanctions also needs to be depoliticised as there is no justification of any act of terrorism," Swarup said.

His remarks assume significance as it was only last year after many attempts that the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the powerful Security Council designated Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist following veto-wielding permanent member China lifting its technical hold on the proposal by the US, the UK and France to list him. India will also work for the early finalisation of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, which India had proposed way back in 1996, Swarup said. Asked if a Pakistani representative had raised a bilateral issue at the multilateral forum and politicised the platform, Swarup said this is the kind of behaviour "we have been seeing from Pakistan over the past many months and years".

"They always rake up bilateral issues in multilateral fora. In fact, they have made it almost a standard norm for their policy," Swarup said. "As far as we are concerned, our foreign policy has a much broader canvas, we have a much wider and global focus and as a member of the UNSC, we will be dealing with all those issues which are under the consideration of the security council in line with priorities that the External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) has outlined," he said.

India's work in the Security Council will be guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a reformed multilateralism and the dynamic 5S vision for foreign policy -- Samman (Respect), Samvad (Dialogue), Sahyog (Cooperation), and Shanti (Peace), to create conditions for universal Samriddhi (Prosperity). "Through this approach we seek to move towards a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system which can be encapsulated as N.O.R.M.S -- New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System," he said.

India will act as a voice of reason and moderation, he said, asserting that India is a firm believer in respect for international law and peaceful settlement of disputes.

Swarup said seeking responsible and inclusive solutions, concrete and result oriented action at the Security Council for an effective response to international terrorism, reformed multilateralism to reflect contemporary realities, a comprehensive approach to peace and security guided by dialogue, mutual respect commitment to international law, will be among India's priorities at the UNSC.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is perhaps the most serious crisis this generation has ever faced. We believe the current crisis offers us new opportunities to seek innovative and new solutions through multilateralism and international cooperation," Swarup said.

"It is clear to us that the UN and indeed multilateralism itself needs to change to reflect contemporary realities and remain effective and credible," he asserted.

India's two-year term as the non-permanent member of the UNSC would begin from January 1, 2021. Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections held on Wednesday. This is the eighth time that India will sit at the UN high-table. Previously, India was elected for 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and most recently in 2011-2012 when Hardeep Singh Puri, now India's Minister for Housing & Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation, was India's Permanent Representative.

Less than a year after its term at the Security Council ended, India had put in its candidature for the non-permanent seat in 2013 under the tenure of then Permanent Representative Ambassador Asoke Mukerji. Afghanistan too was looking at a non-permanent member slot in 2021-22 but Kabul, in a rare gesture, decided to withdraw its candidacy in favour of New Delhi, Mukerji had said.