Did India turn down a permanent seat in the UN in 1955?
score:19
China had a permanent seat since 1945
As one of the "Big Four" allies in World War II (China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the Republic of China (ROC) was one of the founding members of the United Nations. President Franklin Roosevelt had acknowledged China's war effort in World War II and stated his desire to allow China to "play its proper role in maintaining peace and prosperity" in the world, even though China was not socially influential or militarily strong1. Thus, despite opposition from other leaders, especially Winston Churchill, [3] China became a permanent member of the Security Council from its creation in 1945.
However after the Chinese Civil War, China was represented by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the UN until 1971.
As for India being offered a seat in the UN in 1955 - I don't know how true that is but there is another reference from 2008 mentioning the same thing. I'm not sure how trustworthy that reference is though. In addition the term "offer" is very vague - it could simply mean that the US indicated support for an Indian permanent membership. If the UN had formally agreed to let India in, it would have been very big news probably requiring a vote in the General Assembly. So it's pretty much impossible that India had the choice of taking a permanent seat in the council in 1955.
If the incident (in whatever form) did happen though, then Nehru probably meant that the People's Republic of China (mainland China) should be given permanent representation in the Security Council as part of an ongoing effort at that time to improve Indo-Chinese relations.
Upvote:13
Late Prime Minister Nehru himself has explicitly stated in Parliament that India was not offered a permanent membership on the UN Security Council.
News item from "The Hindu" (dated September 28, 1955) - UN seat: Nehru clarifies:
Prime Minister Nehru has categorically denied any offer, formal or informal, having been received about a seat for India in the UN Security Council. He made this statement in reply to a short notice question in the Lok Sabha on September 27 by Dr. J.N. Parekh whether India had refused a seat informally offered to her in the Security Council.
The Prime Minister said: "There has been no offer, formal or informal, of this kind. Some vague references have appeared in the press about it which have no foundation in fact. The composition of the Security Council is prescribed by the UN Charter, according to which certain specified nations have permanent seats. No change or addition can be made to this without an amendment of the Charter. There is, therefore, no question of a seat being offered and India declining it. Our declared policy is to support the admission of all nations qualified for UN membership."
Upvote:23
From independent sources, I'd go with the India.com version: India never received any such offer.
The UN actually existed during WW2. This is what the group of countries allied against the Axis powers called themselves. The Security Council was the group of countries that were actually the major allies supplying large numbers of troops in the fight, and thus needed to periodically get together to coordinate grand strategic war plans. If you read Churchill's history of WWII, he mentioned that China was included in these meetings because they were actively fighting Japan (in a way, those two were the first belligerents of the war) and Roosevelt insisted they be included. I get the impression Churchill didn't share Roosevelt's view of the value of Chinese involvement. However, their relative feelings about France were essentially mirror images of this, so both France and China were put on as sort of a compromise.
This explains why votes from permanent members of the Security Council of the UN require unanimity. During the war, it would have been actively harmful to the UN alliance (which had to be maintained if they hoped to survive) for one group of members to engage in a major action the rest were dead set against.
After the war, some of these countries became enemies with each other, so there was no way they'd agree to change the rules in a way that significantly lessened their own power. This is why this little club has never really changed, and the "non-permanent" members do not get vetoes. This is also why I highly doubt there ever was (or ever will be) any real offer to add India, or anybody else.
In short, permanent membership is not a statement of your country's value or size or anything. At this point its just a historical accident.
More post
- 📝 How much Ancient Egyptian survived into modern Coptic & Egyptian Arabic?
- 📝 Why would chickens be blue in the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Were there punishments in the Roman Empire for not believing in the official religion?
- 📝 Identify uniform worn in photograph
- 📝 What was typical agricultural produce in Rome or Greece roundabout 2000-3000ya?
- 📝 What's the festival shown in this illustration?
- 📝 Why are Mary I, Mary II and Anne not as famous as Elizabeth I, Victoria and Elizabeth II?
- 📝 What is the origin of Khans? Is there any link between South Asian Khans and the Mongols?
- 📝 Did the U.S. actively encourage discord between the Soviets and Chinese?
- 📝 Why were the Japanese so much better at night flying early in WWII?
- 📝 How is Gaddafi viewed outside the West?
- 📝 How is it possible to be a baronet and not a peer?
- 📝 Why did the scutum fall out of use?
- 📝 What were the relative contributions of oral & literary education in 5th century BCE Athens?
- 📝 Scholar-farmer-artisan-merchant social ordering in ancient/medieval China
- 📝 When have salaries been paid in kind, not cash?
- 📝 Why did Union troops like General McClellan?
- 📝 Has there ever been a case when a traitorous military commander took command again for the side he betrayed?
- 📝 Why Finland received so little foreign support during the winter war?
- 📝 Since when is the Nile Delta known as "Delta"?
- 📝 What made India pull out troops and return the captured territory at the end of 1971 Indo-Pak war?
- 📝 How many times was Vaclav Havel under arrest and under what - presumably trumped up charges - was he indicted?
- 📝 How did philosophical and scientific knowledge in Christian Europe in 1085 compare to the body of knowledge contained in the library of Toledo?
- 📝 Why is the city of Armenia in Colombia so named?
- 📝 What do these lines on the origins of Hindu/Muslim communal consciousness mean?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this European uniform? Likely Belgian or French
- 📝 Do indigenous Latin Americans share any common "recent" ancestors with the Chinese?
- 📝 What was the dominant government system in the 1600s~1800s?
- 📝 The diversity of human eating utensils
- 📝 Did the Finns have aluminum screw caps in 1939?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did India turn down a permanent seat in the UN in 1955?
- 📝 Did the end of the British Raj in India create an economic loss for Britain?
- 📝 Why did the East India Company accept the Government of India Act 1858?
- 📝 Why did the UK allow India to be a republic rather than a democratic parliament under the British Monarch?
- 📝 Did American policymakers seriously consider scaling down Lend Lease Aid to the Soviet Union after the battle of Kursk?
- 📝 Why did the Soviets not shoot down US spy satellites during the Cold War?
- 📝 Did the Romans melt down looted golden objects or did they keep them intact?
- 📝 Did the Romans pour wine down wells for health purposes?
- 📝 Why did Russia inherit the USSR status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power?
- 📝 How did India become a founding member of the UN?
- 📝 How did the Dutch East India Company (VOC) have so much revenue when they only control small part of Indonesia?
- 📝 What did the Royal Sussex Regiment do in India between 1891-1897?
- 📝 Why did Sparta turn on its ally Elis during the First Macedonian War?
- 📝 Why did the Portuguese permit an Italian commercial agent to accompany Vasco da Gama on the 4th Portuguese India Armada?
- 📝 Did Ted Kennedy turn to the Soviet Union for help winning an election?
- 📝 How did pastoral nomads keep winning battles/wars? When did the tide turn against them for settled societies?
- 📝 What did it mean to be a "Jacobite" at the turn of the 20th Century?
- 📝 Why did the Dutch West India Company allow Quakers in the New Netherlands?
- 📝 Did Hirohito offer to stand trial for war crimes, but was turned down by the US?
- 📝 Did the Arab League create a Joint Defense Council and a Permanent Military Commission?
- 📝 In which East European country in the 1980s did people put their TVs in front of windows and turn them facing outside?
- 📝 Did loot from the 4th Crusade turn up in interesting places?
- 📝 Why did Germany have so many important scientists and thinkers around the turn of the 20th century?
- 📝 Why did India sign the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation?
- 📝 What did "Dr." after a person's or a business's name mean around the turn of the 20th century in the USA?
- 📝 Did the East India Company shareholders get any compensation when the Crown took over in 1858?
- 📝 Why did the Indian National Congress fail to convince Indian minorities to support united India
- 📝 Why did Gandhi give the violent "Do or Die" slogan to the Quit India movement?
- 📝 Did the British East India Company operate in the West Indies?
- 📝 After the Mongol Empire fell, did China really turn away from math and physics?