India to attend session on UN-based multilateralism
Why in news?
EAM Jaishankar attends the Partners for Multilateralism meeting at UNGA, launched by EU, Brazil, Kenya, Canada.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims
- New groupings: Partners for Multilateralism (P4M) – founders and aims.
Mains GS-II
- Important international institutions, agencies and fora – their structure, mandate.
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
- GS-II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
P4M initiative
- Founders –
- Leaders of the EU (Antonio Costa)
- Brazil (Lula da Silva)
- Kenya (William Ruto)
- Canada (Mark Carney)
- Aim: support the UN and push reform, staying away from superpowers, to make it more representative, legitimate, effective and trusted; ready for AI, climate change, health security and digital transformation.
- Not a bloc: P4M says it will not be another exclusive bloc or bureaucracy, but a flexible, open framework to build coalitions for reform.
- India’s position: it is unclear whether India was asked to join the joint message; India is already part of NAM, BRICS, G20 and G4, which have similar goals.
- Guterres view: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (term ends this year) said superpowers are discovering their limits, pointing to Russia in Ukraine and the U.S. in Iran.
- Data: 2025 saw the highest number of state-based armed conflicts since 1946, in 35 countries, and record military spending of nearly $3 trillion.
What is multilateralism?
- Robert Keohane (1990) – coordinating national policies in groups of three or more states.
- It is based on shared, general rules that apply to all, not on power.
- Different from minilateralism (small, issue-based groups like the Quad, I2U2); plurilateralism (a subset of members agreeing within a larger body, e.g. WTO plurilateral deals);
- P4M’s model: middle powers build coalitions on specific issues, prove what works, and feed results back into the UN system.
Why is the UN led multilateralism in crisis ?
- Veto paralysis: Article 27 gives the P5 (US, UK, France, Russia, China) a veto – blocking action on Ukraine, Gaza and other conflicts.
- Outdated structure: the UNSC was last expanded in 1965 (11 to 15 members). Africa has no permanent seat; Latin America and India are also left out.
- Funding and trust: unpaid dues, U.S. cuts and exits from UN bodies; the UN80 Initiative (March 2025) seeks efficiency and cost savings.
- Present uncertainty: growing unhappiness with unilateral moves by Russia, China and the U.S. (trade tariffs, expansionism, the Iran conflict).
- New challenges: AI, pandemics, climate and cyber threats have no strong global rulebook.
Legal hurdle to reform
- Article 108: a Charter amendment needs a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly AND ratification by two-thirds of members, including all five permanent members. So every P5 member has an effective veto over reform.
- Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on UNSC reform have run since 2009 without a single negotiating text.
- Pact for the Future (UNGA, September 2024): commits to UNSC reform and to redressing the historical injustice against Africa; includes the Global Digital Compact.
Various UNSC reform camps
| Group | Members / leaders | Stand on UNSC reform |
| G4 | India, Brazil, Germany, Japan | Back each other’s claim to permanent seats; expand both categories |
| Uniting for Consensus (UfC) | Italy, Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Mexico and others | Oppose new permanent seats; only more non-permanent / longer-term seats |
| Ezulwini Consensus | African Union (2005) | 2 permanent seats with veto + 5 non-permanent seats for Africa |
| L.69 Group | Developing countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, small islands (India a member) | Expansion in both categories; text-based negotiations |
India’s stand
- ‘Reformed multilateralism’: India pushes reform of the UNSC, IMF, World Bank and WTO.
- Voice of the Global South: Voice of Global South Summits; African Union made a permanent G20 member under India’s presidency (New Delhi, 2023).
- Multi-alignment: India hosted the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi in 2026 while keeping close ties with the U.S. and Europe.
- Why P4M suits India: it is issue-based and flexible, like India’s own multi-alignment; it gives India a bridge between the Global South (Brazil, Kenya) and the West (EU, Canada).
- Risks for India:
- ‘forum fatigue’ with too many groupings;
- Guterres’s remarks single out Russia and the U.S., two key partners India does not want to antagonise.
Practice MCQ
Consider the following pairs:
1. G4: India, Brazil, Germany, Japan
2. Uniting for Consensus: Opposes new permanent seats in the UNSC
3. Ezulwini Consensus: Common position of ASEAN on UNSC reform
4. Partners for Multilateralism: Launched by the EU, Brazil, Kenya and Canada
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) Only one (b) Only two (c) Only three (d) All four
Answer: (c). Pair 3 is wrong – the Ezulwini Consensus (2005) is the African Union’s position.
Mains Practice Question
Q. In an era of great-power unilateralism, flexible coalitions of middle powers are emerging as a new route to reformed multilateralism. Discuss the relevance of such initiatives for India’s pursuit of UN reform. (15 marks, 250 words)