India hints we are flexible on UNSC veto

At present, the draft doing the rounds seeks expansion of permanent membership of the UNSC with veto powers to new members. The four countries are now looking for co-sponsors to the draft, which they hope to table before the UN General Assembly in September.

Official sources pointed out that India is not fixated on the veto but has stuck by its position on the grounds that there cannot be discrimination in the UN system. The G-4 is also clear that it wants voting on the resolution as there cannot possibly be a consensus among all 191 member countries.

India is understood to have conveyed the same to China which has opposed the G-4 draft resolution. To Beijing’s suggestion for a consensus, New Delhi is said to have drawn attention to the time when China barely managed to get a two-thirds majority.

The main strength for developing countries like India, sources said, is the numbers, and that can reflect best at the time of voting. The insistence by Coffee club countries like Italy and Pakistan to adopt a consensus-based approach is aimed at scuttling the entire effort.

The US, on the other hand, is yet to firm up its position. While it has indicated that it would prefer a consensus on the issue of UN reforms, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh last week that Washington yet to finesse its position.

South Block officials agree that entire process is very complex and even if a resolution is tabled, it has to get endorsement by two-thirds majority in the UNGA and then would have to go to the UNSC where the possibility of it being vetoed cannot be ruled out.

However, India feels the G-4 draft is the only concrete resolution for reforms before the UN and that this is an issue raised by developing countries.