In a message to China at UNSC, Indian envoy says countries should respect territorial integrity

In a clear message to China at the United Nations Security Council, India called on countries to respect territorial integrity and various pacts that have been signed. India's Permanent Representative to United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said that the "underlying principles behind common security" is "premised upon respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all Member States" and "any coercive or unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo by force is an affront to common security."

Ties between India and China have nosedived after the 2020 Galwan aggression by the Chinese military in eastern Ladakh. The aggression lead to the death of 20 Indian soldiers, and while China also suffered casualties, only after much delay it accepted casualty count of four.

The Indian envoy to UN explained "common security is only possible when countries respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as they would expect their own sovereignty to be respected." China has indulged in military action at the Line of Actual Control in the past, including the 2017 Doklam incident in which it tried to build a road on Bhutanese territory.

Ambassador Ruchira Khamboj pointed that "common security is also possible only if countries respect agreements signed with others, bilateral or multilateral, and do not take unilateral measures to nullify those very arrangements to those they were party to". During the current Indo-China crisis, New Delhi has several times highlighted that it is due to Beijing not respecting the 1996 and 1993 border pacts that called for not amassing troops at the border.

The Indian envoy's address had a message for Pakistan as well on the issue of terrorism mentioning that "common security is also only feasible when all countries stand together against common threats such as terrorism and do not engage in double standards while preaching otherwise". The address was made at a UNSC meet on "maintenance of International Peace and Security' which was the key signature event under Chinese presidency of the council.

A substantial focus of the speech of the Indian envoy was on the reforms of the UNSC. She said,"a truly representative Security Council is the most pressing need of the hour" warning that there is a "real danger of the United Nations being superseded by other plurilateral and multilateral groupings which are more representative, more transparent and more democratic and, therefore, more effective."

UN and its key body UNSC are seen as dysfunctional amid rise of other groupings like the G20, BRICS, SCO. The ambassador said, "In my country, which now represents more than 1/6th of humanity, we believe that until we reform, perform and transform multilateral governance structures, we would be found wanting".