INDIA AND THE UNSC: SECURITISATION OF HEALTH DURING COVID-19

India’s inclusion in the UN Security Council (UNSC) has prompted discussion on India’s role in global security and its intersection with public health issues.

- ASHWATH KOMATH, TARANA FAROQI AND ANUTTAMA BANERJI

This becomes even more pronounced given India’s efforts to secure a permanent seat at the council and demonstrate its contributions to the international security architecture.

The realm of securitisation has been broadened and depended on over a period of time beyond the traditional military lens. Interestingly, an issue can be ‘securitised’ by labelling it as one as pointed out by Ole Weaver and in due course, it moves away from being a part of the realm of normal politics and becomes a part of emergency politics qualifying the issue to be one of immediate concern. ’Human Health’ has increasingly come to be identified within this lens in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic at a time when nation-states have limited or fledgling public health infrastructure. In fact, health has been seen within the traditional security paradigm with HIV AIDS being securitised in the early 1990s, However, this securitisation exists at multiple levels and is not a binary condition.

The idea of ‘Human security’ i.e. the notion of security going beyond the traditional approach of security in a conventional sense is an important aspect for countries such as India who are rapidly emerging as important players in the global south. Human security being a non-traditional school of thought that endorses and covers physical security for a wider fulfillment of security requirements.