Just a week after President Barack Obama's endorsement for India's permanent membership in the UN Security Council, the US has said no breakthrough is expected "anytime soon" on the UNSC reforms.
"I would caution against expecting any kind of breakthrough anytime soon," Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake told journalists in New York and Washington during a digital video press conference. "I think the President and others have made it clear that this (reform) is going to be a long and complicated process and that we're committed to a modest expansion both of permanent and non-permanent seats," he said.
The official said the only "real change" Obama announced was US support to India's permanent seat in the 15-membered wing of the UN, but "we have always been clear that this is going to be a long-term and very complicated process." Blake, however, asserted that no condition has been imposed on India in lieu of the support for the Security Council berth. "No, there's not conditionality."
He said Obama has clarified that with a permanent membership also comes "the burden of responsibility" to take on some of the more challenging aspects of managing the international system that includes Mayanmar (Burma) and Iran. "So, I think you heard the President talk about Burma in his statement to (the Indian) Parliament, and you saw the references in the joint statement to the importance of Iran,"Blake observed.
The US official said there are many contenders for permanent seats as India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Germany are competing for permanent membership. "There's the whole question of the veto. And so we need to have a detailed and serious conversation with all of our friends who are competing for these seats... I would deny that we're being sluggish on anything to do with the UN. This is a very important priority for us."
Blake also clarified that Obama's endorsement of India for the Security Council was not a last minute decision, but had been well thought out. It was kept hush-hush, since the endorsement was a big news item. "We wanted the President's speech before Parliament to have an impact," he said. "So that's why we waited until the end to put that into the joint statement...I don't want to suggest in any way that there was difficulties negotiating the joint statement and like that.
"On the contrary, we had very good relations with our friends in the MEA (Ministry of External Affairs) and in the Prime Minister's Office to move ahead on all aspects of the (Obama) visit," Blake said. Meanwhile, India that enters the Security Council as a non-permanent member in January 2010 will be pushing to speed up the reform process during its two-year term. "We are entering the Security Council after a gap of 19 years...We have no intentions of leaving the Security Council," Hardeep Singh Puri, India's envoy to the UN, told PTI last week. "In other words before we complete our two year term we will be a permanent member," the envoy added.
Meanwhile, State Department Spokesperson P J Crowley has said a consensus among the existing five permanent members is needed for any reform and expansion to the UNSC. "There's various times where we're accused of dictating to the world. But in this particular case, there is a collaborative process. There are five permanent members of the Security Council. Eventually consensus will have to be reached among the five," Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference in Washington.
Besides, United States of America, the other four Permanent Members of the Security Council are Britain, China, France and Russia. The remaining 10 members are non-permanent and elected for a two-year term. "You know, we get a vote, and we have indicated publicly a country or countries that we believe, should be strong candidates for Security Council representation. Beyond that, we will work affirmatively and aggressively within the UN on this," the official said. Crowley said the reform would take some time as US cannot "snap its finger and dictate" the process in UNSC.
"In envisioning a larger and more effective Security Council, there are a number of model countries that could make significant contributions within the Security Council. Japan is one. Germany is one. There may be a larger list than that,"Crowley said. He also said as US has stated publicly, "we believe that as we go forward with reform, it's hard to imagine a viable Security Council in the future without the participation of India."
