Rebuilding the Global House

The UN’s legacy endures, but its architecture creaks under 1945's weight. India’s reform push seeks to align it with 21st-century realities

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The UN's blue flag still unites nations—but its governance remains stuck in the past

As the world reflects on the United Nations’ legacy and future, India stands at a pivotal juncture in its engagement with the body born from the ashes of World War II. For India, this is not a token celebration of multilateralism but a call for renewal—a reminder that institutions, like the societies they serve, must evolve or risk irrelevance. A founding member since 1945, India has long upheld the UN's ideals of peace, development, and human rights. Yet eight decades on, the institution’s architecture remains rooted in a bygone geopolitical era, unfit for the realities of a fragmented, multi-polar world.

India’s demand is not for recognition alone but for reform that is moral, structural, and systemic. The UN, once humanity's collective aspiration for peace and justice, today risks becoming a forum of inertia where vetoes replace vision and procedures eclipse progress. From New Delhi's vantage point, revitalising the UN is not a bureaucratic exercise but a project to re-democratise global governance itself.

India’s commitment to the UN ideal has been both consistent and consequential. Even before independence, Indian delegates helped shape the Charter, advocating decolonisation and equality among nations. Since 1947, India has remained one of the UN's most reliable partners, contributing over 290,000 personnel to more than 50 peacekeeping missions—from the Congo to Cambodia—where over 160 Indian soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice. India has also met all financial obligations, contributing USD 32 million in 2024 and pledging USD 150 million over 10 years to the India-UN Development Partnership Fund for sustainable projects across the Global South.