Rebuilding the Global House

As the world reflects on the United Nations’ legacy and future, India stands at a pivotal juncture in its engagement with the body born from the ashes of World War II. For India, this is not a token celebration of multilateralism but a call for renewal—a reminder that institutions, like the societies they serve, must evolve or risk irrelevance. A founding member since 1945, India has long upheld the UN’s ideals of peace, development, and human rights. Yet eight decades on, the institution’s architecture remains rooted in a bygone geopolitical era, unfit for the realities of a fragmented, multipolar world.

India’s demand is not for recognition alone but for reform that is moral, structural, and systemic. The UN, once humanity’s collective aspiration for peace and justice, today risks becoming a forum of inertia where vetoes replace vision and procedures eclipse progress. From New Delhi’s vantage point, revitalising the UN is not a bureaucratic exercise but a project to re-democratise global governance itself.

India’s commitment to the UN ideal has been both consistent and consequential. Even before independence, Indian delegates helped shape the Charter, advocating decolonisation and equality among nations. Since 1947, India has remained one of the UN’s most reliable partners, contributing over 290,000 personnel to more than 50 peacekeeping missions—from the Congo to Cambodia—where over 160 Indian soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice. India has also met all financial obligations, contributing USD 32 million in 2024 and pledging USD 150 million over 10 years to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund for sustainable projects across the Global South.

India’s leadership extends to norm-building. Initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, and advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals embody an Indian vision of multilateralism that is both pragmatic and ethical—a model rooted in partnership rather than patronage. Yet this reveals a deep paradox: while India exemplifies the UN’s spirit of cooperation, its role within the institution remains constrained by outdated power structures designed for mid-20th-century politics.

Today’s crises underscore the urgency of reform. The Security Council has repeatedly failed to act decisively on conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, paralysed by vetoes and divided interests. Climate change—the defining challenge of our time—exposes the moral bankruptcy of a system where those most affected have the least voice. Technological disruptions, from artificial intelligence to cyber warfare, create new insecurities without global frameworks to govern them. Meanwhile, economic inequality, pandemics, and forced migration test the UN’s capacity to coordinate collective action. For the Global South—home to over 80 per cent of humanity—these are not abstract policy issues but lived realities.

At the core of this dysfunction is the UN Security Council’s outdated structure. The five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—still mirror the power alignments of 1945. The veto, used over 300 times, has largely advanced national interests over global justice. The Council’s last expansion in 1965, which increased non-permanent seats from six to ten, failed to correct the underrepresentation of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. That the world’s largest democracy, fifth-largest economy, and a leading peacekeeping contributor remains outside permanent membership exposes the democratic deficit at the UN’s heart.

For India, reform is not a plea for privilege but a demand for parity—because legitimacy stems from representation. As part of the G4 with Brazil, Germany, and Japan, India has long advocated expanding the Security Council to include six new permanent members: two from Africa, two from Asia, one from Latin America and the Caribbean, and one from Western Europe and Others. The proposal balances regional representation with efficiency, withholding veto rights initially to prevent paralysis while modernising governance.

India’s vision for a reformed UN draws from its democratic ethos and civilizational worldview. The ancient ideal of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—“the world is one family”—offers a moral framework for cooperative globalism grounded in dialogue, equality, and justice. In an interdependent yet divided world, such values must anchor 21st-century multilateralism.

Reform must also extend beyond the Security Council. The wider UN system—its agencies, funds, and programs—must reflect new development realities through transparent decision-making and less donor dependence. India insists that global governance should empower developing nations as equal partners, not aid recipients, a principle reflected in its call for climate justice: developing countries cannot bear disproportionate burdens while industrialised nations evade historical responsibility.

Equally vital is reforming peacekeeping mandates to incorporate the insights of troop-contributing nations, many from the Global South. At the 2025 UN Chiefs’ Conclave, India reaffirmed that peace operations must be realistic, inclusive, and context-sensitive. Its leadership in deploying women peacekeepers and building training frameworks through the Centre for UN Peacekeeping in New Delhi shows how reform can enhance both operational success and moral credibility.

Critics warn that expansion could cause gridlock, but the real danger lies in stagnation. Institutions that resist change risk irrelevance. As forums like the G20, BRICS, and regional coalitions gain influence, the UN’s credibility wanes. India’s successful push for the African Union’s inclusion in the G20 in 2023 proved that reform, driven by consensus, can revitalise rather than weaken multilateralism.

Reform, ultimately, is not about symbolism but survival. In an age of shifting economic centers, technological upheavals, and renewed contests over resources and values, a club of mid-20th-century powers cannot credibly govern 21st-century challenges. To retain moral authority, the UN must reflect the diversity and dynamism of today’s world.

India envisions a United Nations that is agile, accountable, and responsive to the aspirations of billions—modernising peacekeeping through technology, ensuring financial transparency, and deepening engagement with civil society and youth for participative decision-making. The Pact for the Future, adopted at the 2024 UN Summit, recognises this urgency, but its promise hinges on political will and imagination.

As the UN turns 80, the question is no longer whether reform is needed but whether it can happen before the institution loses its moral authority. India’s call is clear: the UN must be reimagined to reflect inclusivity, democracy, and justice. The alternative is a world ruled by fragmented coalitions and unilateralism—precisely what the UN was meant to prevent.

India thus renews its appeal for a United Nations that embodies not just power but principle—one that truly belongs to all. Only then can it reclaim its founding vision: to secure peace, prosperity, and dignity for every nation and every individual on earth.

Views expressed are personal. The writer is an author, political analyst and columnist