India Got The Veto Power In The UNSC? Here’s The Truth.

Recently, a social media post claiming that India has gotten the Veto Power in the UNSC went viral. 

Facebook Link | Archived Link 

However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. There is no such information available on the official website of the UN. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check

We started our investigation by conducting a relevant keyword search. However, we didn’t find any credible news report stating that India got the Veto Power in the UNSC. 

The official website of the UN states, “According to the UN Charter, Article 23, “The Security Council shall consist of fifteen Members of the United Nations”.

The Security Council has 15 members:

5 permanent members with veto power:

China

France

Russian Federation

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

United States of America

10 non-permanent members, five of which are elected each year by the General Assembly for a two-year term

Originally, there were 11 members of the Security Council: 5 permanent and 6 non-permanent members. In 1963, the General Assembly recommended an amendment to the Charter to increase the membership of the Security Council:

A/RES/1991 (XVIII) of 17 December 1963

Entered into force on 31 August 1965

Increased membership from 11 to 15

Changed the number of affirmative votes required from 7 to 9

Set the pattern for geographic representation as follows:

5 from African and Asian States

1 from Eastern European States

2 from Latin American States

2 from Western European and other States

Rules 142-144 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly (A/520/Rev.20) concern the Security Council elections.

UN Charter Article 27(3) states that votes in the Security Council on non-procedural matters “shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members”– this is often called the veto power of permanent members.”

The website has not mentioned India as a country that has the veto power.

According to the website the 5 countries that are the permanent members of the UNSC (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and

United States of America) only have the veto power.

Veto Power:

The UNSC veto is the power of the five permanent members (P5) of the United Nations Security Council to block any substantive resolution from passing with a single negative vote. This “veto power” is enshrined in the UN Charter and means that a resolution requires nine affirmative votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members, to be adopted. Abstention or absence of a permanent member does not count as a veto.

The website of the Security Council Report states, “Beyond permanency itself, the veto power is probably the UN Charter’s most significant distinction between permanent and non-permanent members. Article 27 (3) of the Charter establishes that all substantive decisions of the Council must be made with “the concurring votes of the permanent members”. The veto has been addressed regularly during the annual working methods debates and is among the topics most frequently raised in the context of almost all discussions of Council working methods.

Permanent members use the veto to defend their national interests, to uphold a tenet of their foreign policy or, in some cases, to promote a single issue of particular importance to a state. Since 16 February 1946—when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) cast the first veto on a draft resolution regarding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon and Syria (S/PV.23)—the veto has been recorded 293 times…”

We searched on the official YouTube channel of the United Nations, but didn’t find any report stating that India has gotten the Veto Power.

This makes it clear that India has not gotten the Veto Power yet.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. India has not gotten the Veto Power in the UNSC yet. The official website of the UN has no information about it.