Always puzzling to read this kind of comments, even though they seem quite common from American posters on the Net. The US decided who was going to seat at the UNSC and who wasnt? (if this really was the case, what’s with the constant bitching from America against the UNSC. You cant declare yourself to be the Supreme and One power and then complain about tyranny).
Well, it is probably the most democratic state in the Arab world.
By “We” I meant the Allies.
Apart from the pride issue, there’s the concern that India would be able to veto any vote regarding its possible hostile actions against Pakistan, or about the Kashmir issue or whatever is important for Pakistan.
There has been proposals to create permanent seats without the right of veto, by the way.
The five permanent members ARE the five major Allied nations of WW2, who often went by the collective name “United Nations” even before the organization was founded.
So am I alone in thinking that there should not be any permanent members?
And I say that as a citizen of a country that is a permanent member and as a solid supporter of the UN.
You’re not alone.
India is the largest Democracy in the world.Whether they would vote along with the US remains to be seen. But it is possible they would be an ally. We have been such butt heads that we could use a friend.
India has perhaps the most pro-American population in the world. A 2005 PEW poll showed that 71% of Indians had a favorable view of the United States. At the time, that was higher than any other country, including allies like Great Britain and Canada. And that was at the height of world attention on the Iraq war.
India also faces the same kinds of problems from militant Islam. and militant Islam is going to occupy an increasing amount of our security attention in the future.
Attitudes can change, but I think it’s safe to say that in general India would ally itself with the U.S. on most matters - at least as much as countries like France and Germany.
Are we living in the same world?
That bit about India giving up the seat to China. I did not know that. That actually gives them a chance that China would approve of their joining the Council.
Makes sense, but, how do we ally with India and stay friends with Pakistan?
I dont see how India could have gotten a USNC seat when they werent even independent. Sounds like a bogus story.
I thought that was dubious as well, but actually, it looks like that one’s true:
I can’t find anything discussing Nehru’s reasoning, other than weird Hindu nationalist blogs, but I suspect Nehru acted under pressure from the Soviet Union. Indian foreign policy throughout the Cold War revolved around its status as the leader of the nonaligned movement/third world, and in taking a UNSCO seat it would have risked alienating both sides.
I’m not sure. In fact, I’m not sure how America is going to manage to stay friends with Pakistan at all. Probably by buying it off, would be my guess. Not an optimal way to do things, but damned if I know how to crack that particular nut. I think Pakistan is going to be a big problem for the world in the next decade.
I don’t think we can stay friends with Pakistan while continuing to fight a GWOT under any circumstances anyway.
But how do we fight it without Pakistan’s help, or at least cooperation? We can hardly hope to move troops into or out of Afghanistan by crossing Iran’s territory or airspace.
Phew!
Yes, we are. What part of my post don’t you agree with and why?
There are three former Soviet republics bordering Afghanistan on the other side. IIRC, that’s how we got special forces units in during the first weeks of the war.