Dr. Arvind Kumar*
We are left in an interesting — and concerning — place these past couple of years. The world’s pandemic proved it was far from over, sickening millions and affecting economies. Global inflation hit 9% in 2022, its highest level since 2008. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine displaced millions of people and sent ripple effects throughout food and energy systems. And the impacts of climate change — from deadly floods to withering heat to drought — acted as a threat multiplier. The poor felt the effects most acutely. Up to 95 million people were pushed into poverty. It wasn’t all bad news: Renewable energy capacity jumped 8% last year, while all countries signed onto a landmark UN biodiversity agreement to conserve 30% of the world’s land and water by 2030. But given recent setbacks, will the world’s signs of progress grow into the systemic shifts it needs to stabilize the climate, safeguard ecosystems and improve everyone’s quality of life?
When we look at India Modi’s relentless efforts to position India as a global power player have been showing colours. Small gestures and routine shared interests do matter when world leaders interact. If nothing else, they provide a small common ground that has the potential to later turn into a big interface. In his visit to USA after holding private meetings, the leader of the world’s most populous nation Sh. Narendra Modi kicked off his public schedule on Wednesday with a group yoga session on the United Nations’ north lawn with participation from 135 nations, creating a Guinness World Record for people of most nationalities coming together for yoga. The yoga-themed U.N. visit is a savvy and symbolic choice for a premier who has made the ancient discipline a personal practice and a diplomatic tool. First practiced by Hindu sages, yoga has now become one of India’s most popular cultural exports, and Indian PM has energetically promoted it as a rather literal feel-good way of stretching the country’s influence abroad. What will 2023 hold for India in terms of global presence, the environment and development?
India has long sought a permanent seat on the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful organ. India has been elected to a two-year seat several times, most recently for 2021-22. The U.S. has been looking to India, also the world’s biggest democracy, as a key partner on matters that include checking China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. India, meanwhile, wants to bolster military and trade connections with the U.S. The practice of yoga comes with a range of sophisticated philosophies which can inform global policy debates, if not dictate them. India has already presented yoga to the world as a universal practice and promoted its adoption. Saudi Arabia is set to introduce yoga in its universities, Arab News reported recently. India’s success with promoting yoga as a universal practice could be a beginning for India to start emitting other ideas too in the larger world. Its push could be a tiny step towards India’s emergence as a global power that defines important debates and decision-making processes. The active evangelism for yoga has become a talking point among the global power elite and PM has said that almost every conversation he has with a world leader starts with yoga and there is scarcely any dignitary who has not discussed the wellness regime with him. It is often argued that yoga gives India a soft power in the world. Soft power gives a country influence without coercive or transactional means. Soft power emerges from the culture of a country which persuades or attracts others.
Soft power for permanent presence at the UNSC table
Yoga, of course, is India’s soft power, which presents India as a benign and well-intentioned country and draws foreigners into Indian traditional culture. This soft power can yield hard benefits too. For example, India has to battle negative perceptions in global discourse which limit not only its scope to influence the world but these perceptions also find ways into policies and norms that influence India’s economy. Negative perceptions can deter foreign investors and impede new alliances. It is an effective burnisher of India’s image that showcases the country’s inclusive traditions. A host of contentious issues including global terrorism, Ukraine war, COVID pandemic’s origins and so on, have, over the last few years, sufficiently highlighted the need for a multipolar global order. Against this backdrop, a cynosure has been cast upon key multilateral institutions including the United Nations Security Council and the voices demanding reforms in its structure have since been on a fervent upscale.
India is one among the leaders of this ‘game of thrones,’ wherein the permanence of the metaphorical throne has a high value. It is often emphasized upon the need for a “refresh” of the 77-year-old UNSC structures, noting that large parts of the world do not believe anymore that the UN system speaks fairly for them. The veto powers enjoyed by the P5 members have been criticized for stalling the governing capacity of the UNSC. Oftentimes, the permanent members have been accused of misusing their veto to suit their national agendas at the detriment of global security. For instance, Russia vetoed many resolutions condemning its actions in Ukraine, USA has used it nearly 20 times over Israel-Palestine issue, China has deployed it as a diplomatic weapon against India to ‘safeguard’ terrorists, and the like. These loopholes in the governance structure of a body constituted for the purpose of maintaining global peace and consensus nudged former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to even say that there is a dire need for reform of the Security Council, lest it risks becoming increasingly irrelevant. India’s bid for a permanent seat is multipronged. Over the last few years, India has extensively lobbied for this at the global stage.
Way forward
India enjoys a long standing and deep historical relation with the UNSC as it was one of the founding members of the organization. The association, besides being long, has also been a meaningful one, wherein India has sent more than 2.5 lakh soldiers to the UN Peacekeeping forces. A country representing 1.4 billion people undisputedly deserves a spot at the top decision making table. It has demonstrated its skills as a responsible world leader, and holds the distinction of being a Nuclear Weapon State, just like the P5 members. Its adherence to the ‘No First Use policy’ and deterrence against non-nuclear states has exhibited India’s hard power. Against this backdrop, India has also emerged as an undisputed leader of the developing world. Further, it is among the world’s fastest growing economies and is the third largest globally in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Besides, India is also a repository of immense soft power which gives it a moral high ground, in holding the distinction of being the world’s largest democracy. It is in this regard, that four of the five permanent members too have, time and again, voiced their support for India’s permanent membership at the UNSC. New Delhi has also been elected as a non-permanent member of the council for eight terms and has left its indelible impact by negotiating some tough resolutions.
Despite some of these challenges, the Government of India has accorded highest priority to its stand on getting a permanent seat in the expanded UNSC. To get the international support needed, it has been actively raising this issue in all important bilateral and multilateral forums. It has enhanced its engagement with the reform-oriented countries in the G-4, as they are also aspirants for permanent member of the UNSC; and with the L.69 Group—a cross regional group of countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Expansion of the permanent and non-permanent bodies is long overdue; they must include countries such as India, considering its geographical size; enormous population; economic growth; democratic system; political stability; soft, military, and nuclear power; apart from its undisputed role in South Asian affairs. Reforms are also necessary to make the UNSC more legitimate, effective, and representative in character and also to correct historical injustices in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Modi’s yoga bid at the UN a “clever move” because Yoga is a product which you can sell everywhere in the world, If democracy is the USA’s greatest soft power export that organises nations through the currency of vote into a cohesive collective powered by individuals, Yoga does the same for India, initially at an individual level and invisibly at the national – the former is visible, the latter concealed.
*Editor, Focus Global Reporter
