India set to get UNSC non-permanent seat in Tuesday’s elections

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 (APP): The General Assembly will meet Tuesday to elect five new non-permanent representatives to the Security Council to replace the outgoing five—Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda—scheduled to vacate their seats at the end of this year.The council, United Nations’ most powerful body, is composed of five veto-wielding permanent members; China, Britain, France, Russia and the United States—and ten non-permanent members, elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. India, which was endorsed by the Asian Group, is set to get elected since Kazakhstan pulled out from the race earlier this year and there is no other challenger from the region. While the Asian, African and Latin American seats are going uncontested with only one candidate each, the two seats for Western Europe and others Group are being fought for by Canada, Germany and PortugalSouth Africa will get the the African seat, while Columbia will replace Mexico for the Latin American seat. To win a seat requires two-thirds of the General Assembly vote, which adds up to about 128. Voting is done by secret ballot. India’s last stint on the Security Council was in 1992.
The terms of the elected countries start January 1, 2011. If Germany wins the spot, then three of the four members of the G-4 (India, Brazil and Germany), who are aspiring for becoming permanent members, will be on the council. the fourth member—Japan—will complete its term at the end of the year.
Diplomats said that those vying for permanent seats on an expanded council will use their position to push forward the debate over new permanent memberships and their campaigns for those seats specifically. It will be an uphill battle, as each have regional opponents to their claims -Germany by Italy, India by China, and Brazil by Argentina; any progress to be made will require them to “use their two-year tenure to demonstrate their global leadership ability while making their case”.
Still, given little progress in discussions on the expansion of the council to make it more representative, democratic and transparent, it will still take an uphill task to bring about a consensus amongst member states.
Eventually the whole issue may land in the arms of the UN General Assembly for a vote instead of a consensus. But that still requires a nod from the five permanent members who most experts here say are unwilling to dilute their powers – App