India should replace the United Kingdom on UN Security Council

With the unravelling of the last aspects of the British Empire, the notion that the United Kingdom should have any seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council has not logical or moral basis

That the structure of the United Nations is antiquated is not news. The Security Council rewarded the victors of World War II, but ignored both their colonial holdings, the practical impact of decolonization, and general shifts over eight decades.

Upon the United Nations’ founding, for example, 74 countries were independent including those like Germany and Japan still under occupation. Of these, 51 became UN members. Today, the UN has 193 members, plus the Holy See and Palestine, both of which have observer status.

The Security Council is important; it provides a check on the General Assembly’s mob mentality and also resolves the problem of tiny autocracies like Guinea-Bissau having as much power as industrialized democracies like India or Germany. Yet it is also archaic.

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The United Kingdom symbolizes how dated and unjust some membership on the Security Council is. In 1945, the United Kingdom’s share of the world’s economy was 6.5%, and that was despite the devastation of Nazi bombardment during World War II. Today, however, the International Monetary Fund estimates the British share at just half that. Today, by purchasing power parity, India ranks third globally and the United Kingdom ranks ninth.

Consider also population. In 1945, the United Kingdom’s population was just shy of five crores, while India under British rule had more than eight times as many people. Today, the United Kingdom’s population has just shy of seven crores; India has 148 crores.

As the United Nations prepares for the selection of a new secretary-general after eight years of António Guterres, India should use its diplomatic heft to demand reform now. Broad reform would be impossible in the short-term, but India has another out: Assuming the United Kingdom’s Security Council seat permanently.