S Jaishankar to talk Security Council reform with new UN General Assembly president on July 23

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India is expected to push key global issues on its agenda now that close ally Abdullah Shahid, Foreign Affairs Minister of Maldives, has become the President-Elect of the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), sources in the know said.

Shahid reached India on the night of July 21, and his meeting with the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar on July 23, is set to see talks covering the ongoing United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform negotiations and a tighter watch on terror financing to keep Pakistan in check, they added.

The talks however will not cover Afghanistan, the sources said.

Shahid will also be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is considered to be 'a friend of India', senior diplomatic sources stated. He had visited the country earlier this year in April, as well as before his election at the UN.

India is pushing for a wide range of amendments to the UN Security Council. It is part of the G4 allies, which also includes Brazil, Germany and Japan, who support each other's bids for permanent seats in the council.

Their main opposition comes from the Uniting for Consensus (UfC), a movement led by Italy that is against the possible expansion of permanent seats in the Council.

It is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Council. The UfC notably – but not surprisingly - includes Pakistan and is supported by China.

Clashes between the two groups and others reached a crescendo in June when the G4 opposed the decision by current UNGA President, Volkan Bozkir, to postpone the Security Council reform negotiations to the next Assembly session, yet again.

"India wants negotiations on the issue, currently being led by the Intergovernmental Negotiations framework (IGN) to continue in the current session itself, especially since key ally Qatar is heading the IGN," a person in the know said.

The Security Council consists of five permanent members - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States, all of whom have veto rights.

This means that on 'all substantive matters', the veto by even a single member blocks global action. Interestingly, China has used its veto power to block India’s efforts to become a permanent member of the body even when the other four permanent members have backed New Delhi’s membership.

The Council also has 10 non-permanent members who are elected by the UNGA for two-year terms starting on January 1, with five replaced each year.

India began its two-year tenure as part of the Council on January 1, 2021.

Any reform of the Security Council would require the agreement of at least two-thirds of UN member states in a vote in the General Assembly and must be ratified by two-thirds of Member States. More importantly, however, all the permanent members of the UNSC with veto rights must also agree.

Shahid will also discuss various bilateral issues between India and the Maldives, including a commitment by both sides to increase trade and investment between the countries.

The Maldivian Foreign Minister’s visit to India assumes significance before the annual UN session, which begins in September (76th session) amidst an increasingly polarizing global geopolitical climate.

The session also sees the new UNGA President begin his one-year tenure from September 1.

The presidency rotates annually between the five geographic groups: African, Asia-Pacific, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and other States.

Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkır is the current President of the UNGA since September 16, 2020.

On June 7, 2021, Shahid was elected as his successor with an overwhelming three-fourths majority, with 143 votes in favour, 48 against and no abstentions and invalid votes.

India is known to have thrown its diplomatic weight behind his candidature.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit had been the first and sole UNGA president from India, elected back in 1953.