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India assumes Presidency of the UN Security Council

India assumes Presidency of the UN Security Council

  • India on Sunday (1st August 2021) assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of August.
  • The presidency for the month of August will be India's first time at the helm during its 2021-22 tenure as a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
  • India is organising three high-level signature meetings focussing on our priority areas—maritime security, peacekeeping and counter-terrorism.

UN Security Council (UNSC)

  • UN Charter established six main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council.
  • The other five organs of the UN are:
  1. General Assembly
  2. Economic and Social Council
  3. Trusteeship Council
  4. International Court of Justice and
  5. Secretariat
  • UNSC is primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
  • UNSC held its first session on 17 January 1946 in Westminster, London.
  • Headquarters for the council has been in New York City at the UN Headquarters.

Composition of UNSC

  • It consists of 15 members — five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members.
  • The five permanent members are the US, UK, Russia, China and France.
  • The permanent members of the UNSC have a veto power.
  • This veto allows any of these five countries to block the adoption of a resolution.
  • Every year, five non-permanent members are elected for a tenure of two years.
  • Unlike permanent members of the council, the non-permanent members do not have veto power.
  • However, they have “collective right of veto” i.e. Any resolution of the UNSC has to be passed by at least seven non-permanent members even if all the permanent members support it.
  • To be elected as a non-permanent member of the council, each member-country requires a two-third majority of the entire assembly.

Presidency of UNSC

  • Every member-country of the council, including the non-permanent members, also assumes the presidency of the council every month.
  • The presidency is determined in an alphabetical order.

India and UNSC

  • This is the eighth time India has been serving as a non-permanent member of the UNSC.
  • India has earlier been a non-permanent member of UNSC in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92 and 2011-12.
  • India will preside over the council again for a month in 2022.

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