“Why Finland’s UNGA Speech Resonates with India”, Indian Narrative, 01 October 2025
“Alexander Stubb, Finland’s President, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025, highlighted the importance of the principles of multilateralism, legitimacy, and rules-based international order. For India, his intervention sounded not only refreshing but also timely, as the European leader consistently argued that global governance structures still remain trapped in the realities of 1945. In this regard, he stated, “The composition of the UN still largely reflects the world of 1945”. While there are differences in approach and emphasis, his speech resonates strongly with India’s concerns, with multiple points of alignment that reinforce New Delhi’s worldview.
At its core, President Stubb’s speech argues that global politics must balance values, interests, and power. He expressed this with a simple proposition, “In its simplest form, foreign policy is based on three pillars: values, interests, and power”. This triad is no stranger to Indian diplomacy. For decades, New Delhi has had to navigate between its normative commitments, such as democracy, non-alignment, and sovereignty, and its interests in security and development, all while simultaneously acknowledging the power asymmetries of a world dominated by major powers. When Stubb underlined the idea that transactional foreign policies must be grounded in enduring values, he articulated a framework that India itself often employs, whether in climate negotiations, trade diplomacy, or its partnerships in the Indo-Pacific Region.
Moreover, Stubb’s call for reform of multilateral institutions in his speech directly echoed India’s long-standing demand for a seat at the global high table at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). His critique that “the composition of the UN still largely reflects the world of 1945. As the world has changed drastically, so should the decision-making at the UN” resonates with India’s stance concerning the United Nations. For New Delhi, the UNSC’s exclusion of countries representing vast populations and sufficiently unrepresented areas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America is indefensible in the twenty-first century. Thus, Stubb’s suggestion of new permanent seats and limitations on veto power dovetails with India’s own reform agenda for the global organisation, seeking to democratise global governance and to ensure that legitimacy flows from representativeness, and not from the privileges of a bygone era…….”
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