Should India Have a seat in Security Council?

For Debate Against Debate

It is ironical that India is not a member of the U.N Security Council. The United Nations was set up in 1945 after the Second World War, as an association of sovereign state. India was a British colony then and not a sovereign country, yet it played a pivotal role in the set up of U.N. had India been a sovereign nation then, it would have already been a permanent member similar to the other powerful members. India strongly deservers to be a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council because of many apparent and weighted reasons.

India is the largest democracy of the world with over 1 billion population. Every seventh person in the world is an India. India strategic position in Asia has always played a crucial role in its history. India’s role in strengthening UN’s position has always been positive.

India’s significant role in peace keeping all over the world is well known. It has been instrumental in eradicating apartheid, slavery and colonisation in many Asian and African countries. Its moral support has always been there for the weak, surfing and oppressed humanity. It is a well known fact that Indian forces as the UN peace keepers have performed a wonderful job in many countries including Korea, Somalia, Angola, Shri Lanka, etc. and now there is a great demand that Indian troops should be sent to Iraq to establish and maintain peace there.

The Security Council is a very powerful organisation of the UNO and is mainly responsible for maintaining peace in the world. However there is no representative of the third world in it. There fore in principle, it has been decided to reshape the UN and expand the Security Council. It would do so by adding to the existing 5 members, Germany, Japan and three other countries from the developing countries, one each from Asia, Africa and South America. It is clear that India should have a permanent seat on the floor of Security Council as many countries have already expressed their opinion in favour of India, so that it reflects hopes, inspirations and concerns of its member nations and not just of handful of developed and powerful nations.

India’s achievements in nuclear technology and m9issile defence system also have been miraculous. Indian nuclear weapons and missiles achieve great significance. All these developments have made India one of he fastest growing economy of the world and also the 4th largest economy of globe. Indian technology is well poised to shift in near fro digital to photon and then to photonic. These developments make India a real power house and super power in many fields. But the big question pondering the minds of millions is that, are these advancements something to celebrate about. More than 60 percent of our population still lives in villages.

The very essentials such as health, sanitation, education and rural livelihood are missing where it is needed the most. Our rural folks are suffering defencelessly with in the hands of the state. Critics cite cases of increasing number of suicides in various parts of the country with Andhra Pradesh recording the maximum. Most of these suicides are from marginal farmers. In cities too, India is shining only in the eyes of elite and the upper middle class. The market forces are bypassing the slum dwellers and the fringe segments.

State schools have been neglected and are either non-functioning or non-existing. Private schools and institutes have been mushroomed whose main aim is to fleece public. In rural areas, government schools are run in decrepit condition, good for children of marginalized only. The idea of common school hardly gets mentioned. According to Kohatari commission, 1966, 6% of GDP should be expended on education. But it has remained a distant dream.

The world health origination (WHO) has set 5% of the national income as norm for public health expenditure. But we just spend 9%, the least spent on health among the developing nations. Government of India only bears 20% of the health expenses, rest born by households from their meager resources. Developed nations bear on an average, 60% of the expenses. As in other developed countries, India too is promoting health insurance, but in the absence of infrastructure, whom and how will it benefit, remains a mystery.

There is no room for felling complacent. A lot of work has yet to be done for our country to make super power. A country facing crises at home cannot be a superpower at all. So, instead of wasting time and energy in fruitless efforts, the government should pay more heed to the internal affairs. Just to lure one vote from a country for the final polling of Security Council, India has to give so many subsidies and compensation to that country. Instead of poking nose in other countries matters by being a member of Security Council, India should mend its own nest first. With a member of Security Council, India is planning to stabilise peace in the world, where as its own internal peace in experiencing threat which it has not been able to set for the past many decades.

Also things are not as easy as they appear in this selfish, materialistic and politically motivated world. India’s efforts to secure non\permanent seat in the security council come to nought when on 12th October, 1996, it was convincingly defeated be Japan by 102 votes. This was decided in the first ballot itself in the 185 member general assembly of the UN. The margin by which India lost to Japan was really shocking. It happened in spite of India’s popularity in NAM and Arab countries.

Thus instead of fighting for a seat in UN Security Council, India should pay more stress in internal affairs, rather wasting time, energy and money in futile efforts.

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For Debate	Against Debate
It is ironical that India is not a member of the U.N Security Council. The United Nations was set up in 1945 after the Second World War, as an association of sovereign state. India was a British colony then and not a sovereign country, yet it played a pivotal role in the set up of U.N. had India been a sovereign nation then, it would have already been a permanent member similar to the other powerful members. India strongly deservers to be a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council because of many apparent and weighted reasons. India is the largest democracy of the world with over 1 billion population. Every seventh person in the world is an India. India strategic position in Asia has always played a crucial role in its history. India’s role in strengthening UN’s position has always been positive. India’s significant role in peace keeping all over the world is well known. It has been instrumental in eradicating apartheid, slavery and colonisation in many Asian and African countries. Its moral support has always been there for the weak, surfing and oppressed humanity. It is a well known fact that Indian forces as the UN peace keepers have performed a wonderful job in many countries including Korea, Somalia, Angola, Shri Lanka, etc. and now there is a great demand that Indian troops should be sent to Iraq to establish and maintain peace there. The Security Council is a very powerful organisation of the UNO and is mainly responsible for maintaining peace in the world. However there is no representative of the third world in it. There fore in principle, it has been decided to reshape the UN and expand the Security Council. It would do so by adding to the existing 5 members, Germany, Japan and three other countries from the developing countries, one each from Asia, Africa and South America. It is clear that India should have a permanent seat on the floor of Security Council as many countries have already expressed their opinion in favour of India, so that it reflects hopes, inspirations and concerns of its member nations and not just of handful of developed and powerful nations.	India’s achievements in nuclear technology and m9issile defence system also have been miraculous. Indian nuclear weapons and missiles achieve great significance. All these developments have made India one of he fastest growing economy of the world and also the 4th largest economy of globe. Indian technology is well poised to shift in near fro digital to photon and then to photonic. These developments make India a real power house and super power in many fields. But the big question pondering the minds of millions is that, are these advancements something to celebrate about. More than 60 percent of our population still lives in villages. The very essentials such as health, sanitation, education and rural livelihood are missing where it is needed the most. Our rural folks are suffering defencelessly with in the hands of the state. Critics cite cases of increasing number of suicides in various parts of the country with Andhra Pradesh recording the maximum. Most of these suicides are from marginal farmers. In cities too, India is shining only in the eyes of elite and the upper middle class. The market forces are bypassing the slum dwellers and the fringe segments. State schools have been neglected and are either non-functioning or non-existing. Private schools and institutes have been mushroomed whose main aim is to fleece public. In rural areas, government schools are run in decrepit condition, good for children of marginalized only. The idea of common school hardly gets mentioned. According to Kohatari commission, 1966, 6% of GDP should be expended on education. But it has remained a distant dream. The world health origination (WHO) has set 5% of the national income as norm for public health expenditure. But we just spend 9%, the least spent on health among the developing nations. Government of India only bears 20% of the health expenses, rest born by households from their meager resources. Developed nations bear on an average, 60% of the expenses. As in other developed countries, India too is promoting health insurance, but in the absence of infrastructure, whom and how will it benefit, remains a mystery. There is no room for felling complacent. A lot of work has yet to be done for our country to make super power. A country facing crises at home cannot be a superpower at all. So, instead of wasting time and energy in fruitless efforts, the government should pay more heed to the internal affairs. Just to lure one vote from a country for the final polling of Security Council, India has to give so many subsidies and compensation to that country. Instead of poking nose in other countries matters by being a member of Security Council, India should mend its own nest first. With a member of Security Council, India is planning to stabilise peace in the world, where as its own internal peace in experiencing threat which it has not been able to set for the past many decades. Also things are not as easy as they appear in this selfish, materialistic and politically motivated world. India’s efforts to secure non\permanent seat in the security council come to nought when on 12th October, 1996, it was convincingly defeated be Japan by 102 votes. This was decided in the first ballot itself in the 185 member general assembly of the UN. The margin by which India lost to Japan was really shocking. It happened in spite of India’s popularity in NAM and Arab countries. Thus instead of fighting for a seat in UN Security Council, India should pay more stress in internal affairs, rather wasting time, energy and money in futile efforts.