India must go for an alternative to UNSC

In the month of June 2018, at a conference, I asked the Ex-Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y Quraishi "If the UNSC is not ready to reform itself and if the West wants the world to toe to their agenda, shouldn't India think of making an alternative to the UNSC?"

His response was clear and simple - No need to make an alternative to UNSC. We must focus our efforts to get it reformed.

Six months later, in November 2018, I was in the Chinese Embassy in India as a Delegate for the India-China Youth Dialogue.

During personal interaction with the then-Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Luo Zhaohui when I asked - "Does Chinese perspective align with going for an alternative to UNSC?"

His immediate response was "Yes, we must keep multiple routes to the goal of security, prosperity, and peace".

Democracy is based on 'free and fair election' and the nature of ndemocracy has real world consequences in diplomacy and development. But spot the contradiction here.

BRICS outweighs G7

Look at the BRICS summits in the last 6 years - one thing that has remained consistent is "Making the world more equitable" - be it for vaccines during COVID or economic recovery after that.

From the lens of Economic Weight, BRICS represents a mix of economies, accounting for around 31% of global GDP (2022) and 42% of the world’s population in comparison to G7 which represents economies that account for around 45% of global GDP (as of 2022) and a considerably small portion, ~10%, of the world's population.

The economic size of BRICS could further grow with its expansion to include countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have large oil-based economies. G7 countries rely heavily on imports for resources, particularly energy, creating vulnerabilities. BRICS' resource control, especially as global energy dynamics shift, gives it a significant potential. BRICS countries are richly endowed with natural resources, particularly Russia (energy), Brazil (agriculture), and South Africa (minerals). This gives them substantial leverage in industries like energy, agriculture, and commodities, crucial to global trade.

Interventionism of West can't go hand-in-hand with Sovereign Nations

Recently we witnessed how the United States chose to stand with Canada against India despite the immature behavior of Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau. And this is not something new. It has been an established practice of the United States to hurt India's interests on multiple instances in history. The breakdown of US on the Hug of Modi and Putin earlier this year, preceded by US Ambassador to India Eric Garcettis' statement "I respect that India, likes its strategic autonomy. But in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy" are examples fresh in the memory. I am not even invoking the pain of 1965 and 1971 regarding India-US relations when Pakistan used to be their ally.

The perspective of 'World as a marketplace' can never align with the principle of status-quo-ism. The game of 'Law-led development' can be fair only when Global Governance is led by Law which gets vetted by all major civilized nations.

It's ridiculous that the strongest body of contemporary Global Governance, the UNSC, does not have the most populous nation in the world, India, at its core decision-making table.

If UN is not west dominated as claimed, then what's the problem?

Moreover, if we uphold the claim of the pre-dominant nations in the Brettenwoods institutions that these are not 'West dominated', then there should be no problem at all if a group of economies is trying to establish an alternative like BRICS. The words and actions can't contradict each other and uphold both at the same time. Look at what BBC HQ has got for you:

Indian Brain needs to be crystal clear in actions

The brain fog of 'going for an alternative to UNSC is going against the US' must be cleared out in Indian minds. The larger goal is to ensure a good life for everyone on this planet. China has adopted and enacted the "Community with Common Destiny" doctrine and now it is India's turn to achieve clarity in adopting and enacting "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" and ensure inclusive global governance, development cooperation, and peaceful coexistence on the world stage.

If it takes making BRICS a global alliance for both security and development, let's go for it.