For the first time in the history of India, an Indian Prime Minister will chair a UNSC meeting

After India assumed the rotating Presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for August last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a UNSC meeting on maritime security today (August 9) at 5:30 PM IST. Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are among the world leaders who are expected to attend the debate.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi last week informed about the meeting by stating, “This would be the first time that an Indian Prime Minister would be presiding over a meeting of the UN Security Council,”

This will be the first time that ‘maritime security’ will be discussed in a holistic manner as an exclusive agenda item in such a high-level open debate as suggested by a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The statement read, “The meeting is expected to be attended by several heads of state & government of member states of the United Nations Security Council, and high-level briefers from the UN System and key regional organizations. The Open Debate will focus on ways to effectively counter maritime crime and insecurity and strengthened coordination in the maritime domain.”

Maritime security has become a major part of India’s security apparatus when it has come to keeping China at bay. The Quad is giving stiff competition to China in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region and India is the heart and soul of the alliance.

Within its first week of UNSC presidency, India called for an emergency meeting of all UNSC members to discuss the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is continuing its offensive against the civilian government and Afghan security forces.

Interestingly, India did not bother to invite Pakistan to the said meeting held on Friday, and instead, made it a point to attack the terror-sponsoring state for vitiating the atmosphere in Afghanistan.

Read More: India turns UNSC into a centrestage for back to back embarrassments for Pakistan and China in its first week of presidency

India has the UNSC presidency for a month but it has already rattled China and Pakistan in its short stay. One can only imagine the gains India would have made in the last 70 years if former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had not committed the strategic blunder of gifting the Permanent UNSC seat to China.

Nehru at the time had made it clear that though India deserved a permanent seat in the UNSC, it won’t grab it at the expense of China, which was also a candidate for the same seat. As a great country, Nehru argued, China should first find its rightful place in the UNSC and India’s case could be considered separately.

Nehru, a self-proclaimed expert on India’s foreign affairs did more harm to the country than any outsider could ever fathom to do. He gifted India’s sovereign territories willy nilly to the enemies, made questionable policy decisions and most importantly undermined the leaders that actually had the strategic nuance to steer the country through complex problems.

Read More: Nehru’s massive strategic blunder – How Nehru gave Coco Islands to Burma that China later grabbed

The Indian presidency of the UNSC is thus proving to be immensely costly for “all weather allies” Pakistan and China. The best part, however, is that India has only begun. The last one week has made one understand why a fearful China veto’s India’s entry to the UNSC permanent council, every now and then.