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Ritual without much substance: India on UNSC annual report debate
Pratik Mathur, the Minister at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the remarks while addressing the UN General Assembly.
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Pratik Mathur at the annual report debate on June.25. / Screengrab/ X @IndiaUnNewYork
India on June.25 said that the debate on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) annual report has become a “ritual without much substance”.
Pratik Mathur, the Minister at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the remarks at the UN General Assembly. The report merely contains details of the meetings, briefers and outcome documents, the diplomat added.
#IndiaAtUN
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) June 25, 2024
Mr @PratikMathur1, Minister, delivers India's statement at the UNGA Debate on the Annual Report of the #UNSC today. pic.twitter.com/DAtPAVzl0G
“The annual report of the Security Council must inform, must highlight and must analyse the measures that it has decided upon or taken to maintain international peace and security during the reporting period,” Mathur said. “Unfortunately, the debate on the annual report has become a ritual without much substance.”
Mathur further remarked that last year only six-monthly reports were compiled, reflecting the lack of interest among members about this ritual.
He stated that the annual report, in its truest form, is meant to analyze the running of United Nations peacekeeping operations, which are the flagship tool for maintaining international peace and security. “However, in reality, we find that there is little information on how peacekeeping operations are run, on the problems they face, on why certain mandates are set or changed, or on when and why they are strengthened, scaled down, or ended in this report,” he added.
“As most peacekeepers are contributed by non-council members, including by my country, who put the lives of our troops at risk to serve the cause of international peace, we strongly advocate for a better sense of partnership to be developed between the Security Council and the troop-contributing countries,” he added.
Mathur also noted that every year, the report is presented to the General Assembly in the second quarter as a mere formality, which needs to be rectified. “There should be definite timelines for completing the report circulating to the wider General Assembly membership and holding this debate earlier, not towards the close of the session,” he said during the debate.
He also stressed the need for a comprehensive reform of the Security Council with expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members.
“This will not be achieved without enhancing the membership of the Council in both categories, permanent as well as non-permanent. We thus remain convinced that the only remedy is a comprehensive reform of the Security Council involving expansion in its permanent and non-permanent categories,” he said.
Mathur stated that with performance assessment becoming a key focus area at the United Nations as part of discussions on global governance reforms, the Security Council must also demonstrate its credibility and enhance its performance.
“We hope that the views and comments expressed by the Member States are given serious consideration,” he concluded.
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