Once, former Prime Minister of Great Britain Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (popularly known as Lord Palmerston; October 20, 1784 - October 18, 1865) had reportedly mentioned: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow." It is, hence, a much-recognised fact that (national) interests are far more important than any ideology or principle! And, the role of ideology is quite limited in Foreign Policy (making process). At the same time, one should agree that it would be difficult to ensure global peace, if all the countries look after their own interests only. The Russia-Ukraine War began on February 24, 2022 and it is still going on. Similarly, the War between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas Movement has been going on since October 7, 2023. Although the United Nations (UN) has adopted a Cease-fire Resolution, the world body has failed to stop the two wars.
While more than 75 million people died in the Second World War, the atomic bombings on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (in August 1945) killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people! After these tragic events, all the countries agreed that an effective mechanism was required to stop the war. They dissolved the League of Nations (which was formed after the First World War), and established the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The UN Security Council (UNSC) was empowered to use military force against any country (if necessary) in order to ensure global peace. Although membership of the UN is not compulsory, virtually the majority of the countries joined the global body.
India was a British colony at the time of formation of the UN on June 26, 1945. Later, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (November 14, 1889 - May 27, 1964), the first Prime Minister of India, played a leading role in shaping the international order. At that period of time, the question arose: Will different countries be able to agree on war-related issues? It was assumed that all the countries concerned would look beyond their own narrow interests in order to safeguard the collective interests, and to maintain peace and stability across the globe. However, all the countries needed to be equipped with equal power and rights to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, the five permanent members of the UNSC have been enjoying all the important powers from the very beginning! As the UN could never oppose the decisions of these five powerful member-countries, it failed miserably while attempting to stop the wars. The same phenomenon got repeated in Palestine, Kashmir, Korea, Vietnam and recently in Ukraine.
Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, believes that his country has become one of the powerful nations in the contemporary world! The growth rate of the Indian Economy is the highest in the world, as India's GDP would touch USD 5 trillion in a few days! Hence, PM Modi wants India to get the permanent membership of the UNSC at the earliest! New Delhi has argued that even if India cannot stop the wars, at least the Developing World would certainly get a strong voice at the international platform! Interestingly, India backs Russia and Israel on issues related to Ukraine and Palestine, respectively, showing that the South Asian nation is interested only to safeguard its own (national) interests. Also, India does not carry much of a vested interest in considering effective tackling of affairs and issues pertaining to other nations. There would be no need for UNSC membership (of India), had PM Modi wanted to lead the country like Nehru or Indira Gandhi (November 19, 1917 - October 31, 1984), the third Prime Minister of India. It may be noted that Non-aligned countries had accepted India's leadership in Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) not on the axis of a certificate. Instead, they used to believe that India could rise above its own interests to take a principled stand.
Now, the legacy of Nehru, (former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel) Nasser and (President of erstwhile Yugoslavia Josip Broz) Tito have been replaced by the legacy of Modi, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan. Of course, the importance of India in Global Geopolitics has increased in recent times. However, PM Modi cannot claim sole credit for it. One should not forget that ninth Prime Minister of India Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (June 28, 1921 - December 23, 2004) and his Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had liberalised the Indian Economy way back in 1990s. Their move helped increase the growth rate of the Indian Economy from 3.5% to 8-10%! Imports, exports, foreign investment, too, increased rapidly in India in the late 1990s.
Later, the US' ties with the West Asian nations deteriorated after the terror attack on the World Trade Centre in New York (9/11). Around the same time, China's relation with the West touched a new low. PM Modi deserves credit for managing to make India indispensable to the West in such a situation. The US and its Western allies imposed economic sanctions on Russia soon after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022. However, India continues to import crude oil from Russia, ignoring the warning of the West. Another source of Modi's strength is his interest in sophisticated weaponry. For a long time, India has been importing arms from Russia. However, the Modi Administration has decided to import arms from other countries, including Israel, France, Sweden, too. Naturally, India's importance is bound to increase!
Stopping the war is not the sole function of the UN, as the world body has various other responsibilities. Tackling Global Warming and Climate Change is another important duty of the UN. However, the UN has failed to tackle these sensitive issues mainly because of the Security Council. The US has never accepted Communist China as a permanent member of the UNSC. In fact, Washington DC had backed India's permanent membership at the UNSC in the 1950s! Surprisingly, Prime Minister Nehru refused the proposal twice!
Now, it is up to Prime Minister Modi to correct the mistake made by his predecessor.
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin
Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment