- World
- Sep 19
10,000th meeting of UN Security Council
• The United States once again vetoed a UN resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, following a vote in the Security Council on September 18.
• The negative vote was cast as the 15-member Council held its meeting against the backdrop of famine spreading in the besieged enclave and an ongoing Israeli offensive to take full control of Gaza City.
• The Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023 after Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups attacked Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, with 48 still in captivity.
• The Security Council first met on the crisis the following day, behind closed doors.
• Since then, the US has vetoed four other resolutions calling for a ceasefire, most recently in June.
• More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since hostilities began, according to the Gaza health authorities.
• South Korea holds the rotating Security Council presidency for the month of September.
• The draft resolution was put forward by the Council’s 10 non-permanent members: Algeria, Denmark, Greece, Guyana, Pakistan, Panama, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Somalia.
• The resolution demanded the release of all hostages held by Hamas and for Israel to lift all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid and ensure that it is safely distributed to the population, in particular by UN agencies and partners.
• For a resolution to be adopted, it must secure at least nine votes in favour, and no negative votes (or vetoes) by any of the five permanent members.
• As one of the council’s five permanent members, the US holds veto power — a negative vote that automatically blocks any resolution from going forward.
UN Security Council
• The Security Council is one of the six main organs of the UN, alongside the General Assembly, the Secretariat, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• The United Nations Charter gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council.
• All members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. While other organs of the United Nations make recommendations to Member States, only the Security Council has the power to make decisions that member states are then obligated to implement under the Charter.
• The Security Council held its first session on January 17, 1946 at Church House, Westminster, London. Since its first meeting, the Security Council has taken permanent residence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
• A representative of each of its members must be present at all times at UN headquarters so that the Security Council can meet at any time as the need arises.
• The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression.
• It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement.
• In some cases, the Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorise the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security.
• The Council is composed of 15 members.
• Five permanent members are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
• India’s participation in the Security Council has been as a non-permanent member during the periods of 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, 2011-12, and 2021-22.
The right to veto
• The creators of the United Nations Charter conceived that five countries — China, France, the USSR (which was succeeded in 1990 by the Russian Federation), the United Kingdom and the United States — because of their key roles in the establishment of the United Nations, would continue to play important roles in the maintenance of international peace and security.
• They were granted the special status of Permanent Member States at the Security Council, along with a special voting power known as the “right to veto”.
• It was agreed by the drafters that if any one of the five permanent members cast a negative vote in the 15-member Security Council, the resolution or decision would not be approved.
• All five permanent members have exercised the right of veto at one time or another.
• If a permanent member does not fully agree with a proposed resolution but does not wish to cast a veto, it may choose to abstain, thus allowing the resolution to be adopted if it obtains the required number of nine favourable votes.
India’s stand on veto power
India has emphasised that the exercise of veto in the UNSC is driven by political considerations and not by moral obligations, saying that only five permanent members being given the privilege of using the veto goes against the very concept of sovereign equality of states.