India Calls for Reformed Multilateralism at the UN

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reasserted India's commitment to the UN during the 75th anniversary commemorative events the world body held last year. Three major themes resonated in his repeated calls for "reformed multilateralism." These were the urgent need to complete the process of democratization of decision-making in the UN Security Council (UNSC); the positioning of development issues at the forefront of the work of the UN; and transforming the functioning of the UN into a multi-stakeholder body to enable it to respond effectively to the challenges it faces.

The call for "reformed multilateralism" has become an integral part of India's foreign policy, seeking to maximize the country's participation in the multilateral system and to accelerate its transformation into one of the 21st century's major powers. India has contributed significantly to creating the contemporary multilateral system. A century ago, over 1.3 million Indian soldiers volunteered to serve in the victorious Allied armies that won victory in the First World War; that enabled India to sign the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and become a founder-member of the League of Nations. Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers volunteered to fight with the Allied armies during the Second World War, and that enabled India to sign the 1942 Washington "Declaration by United Nations" and subsequently the UN Charter in June 1945 in San Francisco. As a country with one-sixth of the world's population which is also a thriving democracy, India is a major stakeholder in a functional multilateral system.

Following his call for a multilateral approach to achieve sustainable peace and prosperity at the meeting of the UN's Economic and Social Council on July 17, 2020, Modi made a strong pitch for reformed...