Those who try to cling to privileges today risk paying the price tomorrow: UN chief on need for UNSC reform

United Nations: UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world's most powerful nations should be on the frontlines to reform the Security Council as he cautioned that those who try to cling to privileges today risk paying the price tomorrow.

“Reform must be about institutions that reflect today’s world. 1945 problem-solving will not solve 2026 problems. If structures do not reflect our times, our world, our realities – they will lose legitimacy,” Secretary General Guterres said Thursday in his address to the 193-member General Assembly on his priorities for 2026.

Giving a clarion call for reform of global institutions to reflect contemporary realities, Guterres said the share of global GDP held by developed economies shrinks bit by bit every day while emerging economies grow in size, strength and influence.

“Every day, South-South trade pulls further ahead of North-North trade.

Our structures must reflect this changing world. That is why reforming international financial and trade institutions is not just important – it is essential,” he said, adding that “the same goes for the Security Council.” Guterres emphasised that it is “manifestly" in the interests of those who hold the most power to be on the frontlines of reform.

“Those who try to cling to privileges today risk paying the price tomorrow. And so we must all be bold enough to change. The world is not waiting. Neither should we,” the UN chief, whose second five-year term at the helm of the world body comes to an end on December 31, 2026, said in his traditional address to the General Assembly on his priorities for the year ahead.

As Guterres enters the final year of his tenure as UN Secretary General, he told the 193-member General Assembly on Thursday that he will make every day of 2026 count and remains fully committed and determined to keep working, fighting, and pushing for a better world.

India has been at the forefront of decades-long efforts calling for reform of the Security Council, including expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent categories, saying the 15-nation Council, founded in 1945, is not fit for purpose in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geopolitical realities. Delhi has underscored that it rightly deserves a permanent seat at the horseshoe table.

India last sat at the UN high table as a non-permanent member in 2021-22. A polarised Security Council has failed to deal with current peace and security challenges, with Council members sharply divided on conflicts such as the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, Eldos Mathew Punnoose, delivering the national statement at the UN General Assembly Plenary on 'Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organisation’, said that the UN’s inability to purposefully intervene on its critical functions leads to questions related to efficacy, legitimacy and credibility.

“This is quite pronounced in the case of maintenance of international peace and security. As conflicts rage across different parts of the globe, the world hopes the UN to deliver, to put an end to human suffering and misery,” Punnoose said.

India underscored that the existing gaps in achieving ambitious goals for humanity call for a closer look at the existing architecture of the UN.

“Such examination underscores the dire need for reforms. This is not a choice anymore, but an imperative,” Punnoose added.

With the UN turning 80, Punnoose stressed that Member states need to work together with a joint sense of purpose towards achieving reformed multilateralism.

“Reforming the Security Council is central to this. UNSC must reflect contemporary geo-political realities. Both permanent and non-permanent categories must be expanded. These timely changes are essential to make the UN fit for purpose and equip this organisation to respond meaningfully to present and future challenges,” he said.