Permanent Mission of India
New York
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UNSC Open Debate on Working Methods

Delivered by Ambassador Yojna Patel, Chargé d'Affaires
19 August 2026

Madam President,

At the outset, I would like to congratulate Denmark for assuming Presidency of the Security Council and thank them for convening the Annual Open Debate on Working Methods. I also thank the briefers for their remarks.

2. Today’s Open Debate gains particular salience given the questions among citizens of member states on the credibility, efficacy and legitimacy of the Security Council and its decision making. The underlying reason has been this principal organ’s inability to purposefully intervene in raging conflicts across different parts of the globe. This has come at a huge cost to humanity, particularly in the form of unabated human suffering.

3. The need for reforming the Security Council is more pronounced and pressing than ever before. Our joint endeavour must be on appropriately equipping the UNSC to address contemporary and future challenges. The world of 1945 has changed beyond recognition. UN membership has grown four-fold since then. The outcome of one conflict 80 years ago cannot determine the composition, dynamics, approaches and working methods for perpetuity. This needs to change and must happen at the earliest.

4. India’s position on reforms of the Security Council are well known. We seek an expansion in both categories, with greater representation for the Global South. This could be achieved only through text-based negotiations, with clearly defined milestones and timelines. In this backdrop, I would like to make the following specific points with regard to working methods.

5. First, a discussion on improvement of UNSC working methods must not be be done in isolation. It is an important aspect of the broader umbrella of UNSC reforms and inherently linked to other clusters, such as categories of membership, regional representation and veto, among others. Any reform of the Security Council must account for all these clusters as a whole in order to make it comprehensive, real and meaningful.

6. Second, it has been more than eighty years and the Rules of Procedure of the Security Council continue to be provisional. The provisional nature of these Rules also suggest that they could be amended suitably from time to time. Therefore, existing working methods must not be cited as a challenge or obstacle to implement reforms, particularly in terms of expanding the membership. Further, the provisional framework per se also needs corrections.

7. Third, non-permanent members are elected by the wider UN membership through the General Assembly. They shoulder the responsibilities entrusted upon them by other member states. In order to enable the non-permanent members to make meaningful contributions during their respective two-year terms, all Security Council members must enjoy the same set of privileges in terms of access to documents.  Access to historical documents must not be the exclusive preserve of a few. Similarly, there must be greater transparency in several ongoing processes of the Security Council. For instance, elected members, and by implication, the General Assembly, must have a greater say in crucial aspects such as election of the UN Secretary General.  Another important sphere is peacekeeping. TCCs and PCCs go far beyond the UNSC membership. Therefore, as direct stakeholders, they must be part of the UNSC decision-making architecture pertaining to all key questions of peacekeeping, such as mandates and resources.

8. Fourth, subsidiary bodies serve important functions and enable better implementation of Security Council mandates. However, these bodies have not been able to deliver optimally in the recent past, primarily due to the delay in finalizing the Chairs. As no decision has been taken till date for the current year, India calls on the Security Council to urgently address this issue and finalize the Chairs on priority. Moving forward, Note 507 must be suitably amended so as to have a definitive and non-negotiable timeline for finalizing the Chairs of subsidiary bodies.

9. Finally, Security Council membership brings significant responsibilities. This must not become a platform to pursue narrow political interests. Listing and de-listing are a case in point. There must be more transparency and objectivity on this front. Presence in the Security Council must not be instrumentalized to legitimize terrorists by attempting to de-list them or to list other entities as terrorist organisations based solely on political considerations, without any objective criteria or supporting documentation.

Madam President,

10. In closing, India would like to emphasize that the Security Council requires greater coordination with other principal organs, particularly the UN General Assembly, which remains the most universal and democratic arm of the UN. Institutional mechanisms such as consideration of the UNSC Annual Report by UNGA must not become a mere procedural formality. Working Methods of the Security Council must be reviewed suitably in order to pave the way for closer interaction of the Security Council with the other principal organs. Future consideration of the Working Methods must, therefore, be seen in this light.

I thank you, Madam President.