UN Chief Race Puts Spotlight on Reform as India Presses Its Case

The contest to choose the next United Nations Secretary-General is taking shape as heads of state and government converge on New York for the General Assembly's annual debate, which opens on September 22. Candidates are being interviewed for the post, but attention is also turning to the governments doing the interviewing — several of which sit on the Security Council and carry their own records of conflict, vetoes and unpaid dues.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation. India is not currently a member of the Security Council and therefore has no vote in its recommendation for the next Secretary-General, though it takes part in the formal appointment by the General Assembly. New Delhi's concerns go beyond the person who gets the job, extending to how the UN functions, whose interests it serves, and whether powerful states will accept the same restraints they demand of others.

According to the UN Secretariat, 73 heads of state and 45 heads of government are expected to attend. Governments keep returning to New York because the UN offers access to nearly the entire international community, even as the gathering has grown increasingly detached from many of the crises on its agenda.

Reform and the Global South

India and much of the Global South have long argued for reform, contending that the existing order gives them too little say while allowing its strongest members considerable room to bend the rules. The UN is weakened, cash-strapped and used selectively by great powers, even as its agencies feed, shelter and count the victims of conflicts its diplomacy cannot end.

The organisation's diplomacy has made little headway on Ukraine or in easing tensions around Iran and the Gulf. Funding cuts have removed roughly one in five peacekeepers from the field, and millions who depend on UN relief are receiving less of it.

Gaza illustrates how the Security Council's authority can be invoked without giving the UN a central role. Washington secured Council backing for its peace plan and the Board of Peace, then largely excluded the UN from decision-making. Reconstruction has stalled while Palestinians exercise little control over their future.

Some of the damage is self-inflicted. Caution at the top and turf battles within the system often slow the UN down, prompting governments to look elsewhere for help with difficult negotiations. In some conflicts, however, the UN retains the presence and standing to make diplomacy possible where other intermediaries struggle.

Budget Cuts and Washington's Role

The 2026 budget reduced spending and provided for the abolition of 2,900 posts, with the risk that savings made in New York will be felt most sharply in the field. Recent American payments have brought some relief, though substantial arrears remain. Withholding money allows Washington to restrict the UN's work without securing agreement on what the organisation should do.

Although President Trump directed a US withdrawal from thirty-one UN entities in January, Washington remains engaged across much of the organisation, with a preference for a narrower focus on peace and security. For many developing countries, however, peace and security are inseparable from development, including food prices, energy costs, debt, climate stress and access to technology.

India's Council Bid and the AI Question

India is contesting a non-permanent Security Council seat for 2028-2029 against Tajikistan, and support for that bid is likely to feature in Jaishankar's meetings. The bid carries a broader argument: Council reform, fairer representation in global institutions, opposition to unilateral sanctions and a voice in AI rule-making all rest on the claim that countries affected by rules should help write them.

Decisions about artificial intelligence will help determine how power is distributed, and India is expected to press for wider participation in decisions about its development, use and risks.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres leaves in December. Three rounds of informal Council polls have placed two women from Latin America and the Caribbean among the strongest contenders: Costa Rica's Rebeca Grynspan and Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, creating an opening for the UN's first woman chief. No successor has been agreed upon, and any permanent member can still block a candidate.

The candidates will face close scrutiny, but the tougher questions belong to the governments choosing them — whether they will pay what they owe, honour their obligations, and allow the next UN chief to act as more than a secretary to the powerful.