UN ‘an old company’ – India

The United Nations is unable to respond to the world’s most pressing challenges, including pandemics and raging military conflicts, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said at the Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi on Sunday.  

Comparing the global body to “an old company” that is not keeping up with the market but still “occupying space,” he reiterated New Delhi’s call for urgent reforms to make multilateral institutions more effective and representative of emerging economies and underdeveloped nations. The minister described the UN as ineffective in a world grappling with major conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. 

“Where is the UN on these issues? It appears to be a mere bystander,” the diplomat said. He also pointed to what he called the UN’s “inaction” during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

India has been vocal about the lack of progress on reforms of international organizations despite the rising role of developing countries in global affairs and the economy. During a recent address to the ‘Summit of the Future’ at the United Nations in New York, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored that reforms in global governance are the “key” to global peace and development.

India, Brazil, and South Africa together expressed “frustration with the paralysis” on negotiations to expand the UN Security Council, in a statement on the sidelines of the recent 79th session of the UN General Assembly. All three nations seek permanent membership in the former body. 

New Delhi has also long been pressing for quota reforms in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to reflect the growing share of global GDP from developing countries.

Such reforms, however, have ceased to be a priority in global discussions as politics has “limited bandwidth,” Jaishankar said. “There are one or two issues which suck up much of the oxygen. I think we’ve seen that now for two and a half years in Ukraine and in the last year in the Middle East,” he explained.

The UN’s failure to tackle critical issues is driving countries to seek alternative solutions, the diplomat added, citing initiatives like the Covax mechanism for equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines, and the International Solar Alliance launched by India and France to drive climate initiatives.

Jaishankar also highlighted increasing global interest in the BRICS group.  “The fact is that the interest that countries show today in joining BRICS also tells us something. It tells us that many others today want multiple options, they want to have a larger spread in terms of their relationships. I think that’s the world we are moving into,” he said. 

“It is not just the UN that is getting old, the global order is getting old,” he remarked, saying it points to the end of an era of “exclusive relationships.”