When India had opposed the veto power of the P5
On this day – June 26 – in 1945, India became a founder of the United Nations (UN) along with 50 other member-states.
Sir Arcot Ramaswami Mudaliar signing the UN Charter on 26 June 1946, San Francisco. Photo: Courtesy UN
By Asoke Mukerji
On this day – June 26 – in 1945, India became a founder of the United Nations (UN) along with 50 other member-states.
Over 2.5 million Indian soldiers had volunteered to fight on the Allied side during the Second World War, which catalyzed the creation of the United Nations. Twenty six Allied nations had met in Washington in January 1942 and issued the “Declaration by United Nations” that launched the process to create the UN and its supporting institutions – the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank – between 1942-45.
The treaty, ie. The UN Charter, creating the United Nations was signed for British India by Sir Arcot Ramaswami Mudaliar (who had been active in Indian politics as a member of the Justice Party, and subsequently became the first elected President of the UN’ Economic and Social Council/ECOSOC in 1946-47) l. For India’s Princely States the treaty was signed by Sir V. T. Krishnamachari (who had been Dewan of Baroda from 1927-44, and subsequently became Prime Minister of Jaipur State from 1946-49, representing the Princely State as one of the two Vice Presidents of India’s Constituent Assembly).
During the negotiations leading to the UN Charter, the Indian delegation is credited for having proposed three ideas that became part of the treaty’s provision – the promotion of human rights as one of the objectives of the UN (Article 1.3), penalizing member states that failed to pay their assessed contributions (Article 19), and criteria for election of non-permanent member-states to the UN Security Council (Article 23).
Making India’s statement at the First Session of the UN General Assembly on 18 January 1946, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar had said that India had (with several other countries) opposed the provision of the veto power of the five self-selected permanent members of the UN Security Council. However, the clear commitment in the Charter itself was that “at the end of the ten years’ period when we re‐examine the Charter, there will be unanimity again, and that this United Nations Charter will not require all the safeguards which big nations sometimes claim and small nations so unwillingly give.”
This review provision contained in Article 109 of the Charter was never implemented, leading to the ineffectiveness of the UN Security Council today. India’s call for “reformed multilateralism” addresses this issue squarely.
Many ask what makes the membership of the UN relevant for India? It was Vijayalakshmi Pandit, leading the Indian delegation at the Second UN General Assembly Session, who pointed to the core interest of India on 17 September 1947, a month after India’s independence from British colonial rule. She said “We cannot eat an ideology; we cannot brandish an ideology, and feel that we are clothed and housed. Food, clothing, shelter, education, medical services – these are the things we need. We know that we can only obtain them by our joint efforts as a people, and with the help and co‐ operation of those who are in more fortunate circumstances than ourselves.”
This has been vindicated with the global development agenda focused on the Sustainable Development Goals becoming the UN’s main agenda today.
The author is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the UN.
