Geopolitics is all about pressure tactics, or rather the art and science of applying the right amount of pressure at the right time and in the right context. Bharat’s foreign policy has come a long way from the days of passive acceptance of the global status quo. As Bharat’s diplomats shed their image of elitist colonial babus whose sole purpose seemed to be kowtowing the line laid out by their colonial masters, Bharat becomes more assertive, independent, and perhaps a bit aggressive in its foreign policy.
In a clear signal to the UN, Bharat has cut down the contributions of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) by as much as 35 percent in the Union Budget 2024-25. As per various media reports, the MEA’s contributions towards the UN and Nalanda University face the biggest slashes for the upcoming year.
The budget estimates for the UN for 2024-25 stand at Rs 175 crore, which is an almost 55 percent decrease compared to the budget estimates of 2023-24 for the UN which stood at Rs 382-54 crore, as per various media reports. Furthermore, contributions towards other international organizations have also been reportedly slashed, falling to Rs 40 crore in the budget estimates of 2024-25, as opposed to Rs 50 crore in the revised estimates of 2023-24.
An international organization called The Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) has had its funds slashed entirely as the 2024-25 budget made no allocation to the international organization, as opposed to an allocation of Rs 0.02 crore in the revised estimates of 2023-24. The CSCAP consists of representatives from various strategic study centers from a diverse set of countries including Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, and the US. Bharat assumed the membership of the organization in 2000.
A sudden drastic cut in the budgetary allocation of international bodies including the UN is being seen as a part of Bharat’s strategy to step up pressure on the UN to take concrete action vis-à-vis Bharat’s bid for permanent membership of the Security Council. Bharat has emerged as a frontrunner in the call for reform of the UN over the past couple of years.
We have repeatedly argued for revamping the whole structure of the UN to make it more inclusive and give a greater degree of representation and power to countries from the global south including countries from South America and the African nations. With regard to the UNSC, Bharat has repeatedly called out the incongruity of a set of five privileged countries deciding the outcome of urgent matters that concern the whole world to the very exclusion of the countries, the matters of which are being deliberated.
It is in this context that Bharat is giving a clear-cut signal to the western elite by taking action where it hurts the most. A 35 percent funding slash by one of the fastest-growing economies of the world will certainly not go unnoticed by the UN elite. Bharat has given an unequivocal signal to the global elite that it would not waste its time and resources on organizations that do not reflect its priorities and fail to represent the fast-changing geopolitical order.
As per various media reports, a senior member of the Bharatiya national security establishment has also called for Bharat to withdraw from the UN peacekeeping missions globally. Sridhar Vembu, Chief Executive Officer of the global Software as a Service (SaaS) giant Zoho Corporation and a recipient of the Padmashri in 2021 raised this point through his X post recently.
“In a welcome move, India has cut its contributions to the UN. For the UN powers to not recognize the most populous country in the world means that we should not waste our time and money with this body. India must also refuse to be part of UN peace keeping missions”, he said in the post.
Noted scholar, author, and a pioneer in the research on civilizations Rajiv Malhotra has also lauded Bharat’s move to slash the funding of international bodies like the UN through his X handle. “This is a welcome move. But more needs to be done. We exposed UN’s corruption in our latest book, “Snakes in the Ganga”. It’s important to UNDERSTAND the theoretical frameworks that drive the UN in order to understand, predict and combat Breaking India Forces”, he says.
Following the massive cut in budgetary allocation to the UN, Bharat also raised questions about the delay in UNSC reforms. Bharat’s Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj raised the issue at the recently held Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Security Council Reform. She emphasized that equity must be the founding principle of global efforts to reform the UNSC. Ruchira Kamboj further stressed that equity demanded that every country, irrespective of its global power or size, be given an equal opportunity to shape global decision-making.
She asked categorically, “Our question therefore is how much longer will the will of five members continue to override the collective voice of 188 member states?”. Bharat did not mince words as it raised the issue of UNSC reform in the meeting saying that there were many fundamental issues in the discourse over the reform of UNSC, but the most fundamental question was if a group of five permanent members can override the collective voice of 188 member states?
The western elite increasingly finds itself in a tricky spot as it conveniently throws words like equity and inclusion when it suits its purpose. But when it comes to pertinent global issues such as UN reform that require the application of the principle of equity and inclusion in its entirety, the global elite starts looking the other way. It’s a classic case of hypocrisy.
The UN elite has been trying to pacify the countries of the global south by creating space for 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council. The non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. Bharat has also been elected a non-permanent member of the UNSC many times. However, it has repeatedly asserted that increasing the number of non-permanent members is not the solution to the problem. It will only widen the gap between the permanent and non-permanent members, thus perpetuating inequities instead of removing those, and thus a comprehensive reform of the UNSC was necessary that reflected the changing priorities of a new geopolitical order.
Bharat is fast emerging as a leader of the global south. The inclusion of the African Union in the G20 as a permanent member under Bharat’s leadership was no mean feat. Bharat’s bid for permanent membership of the UNSC is also being supported by countries like Brazil and South Africa. In fact, Bharat has been working in tandem with the global south to expand the UNSC to include representation from developed economies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
With the global south forging a united front to reform international organizations and disrupt the hegemony of the western elite for good, the developed world can no longer afford to sit back and maintain the status quo.
