MAINS Current Affairs includes India’s Campaign for a UN Security Council (UNSC) Seat in 2028-29 & Digital Infrastructure in India

INTERNATIONAL RELATION

1. India’s Campaign for a UN Security Council (UNSC) Seat in 2028-29

Context: India has launched its campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2028–29. The election is scheduled for June 2027.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

• The UNSC is the principal UN organ responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
• It has 15 members:
  • 5 Permanent Members (P5):United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom, with veto power.
  • 10 Non-Permanent Members:Elected by the UN General Assembly for two-year terms, with five members retiring each year.
• The seats are distributed among regional groups: Africa (3), Asia-Pacific (2), Latin America and Caribbean (2), Western Europe and Others (2), and Eastern Europe (1).
• A candidate requires a two-thirds majority of members present and votingin the General Assembly.
• Elections are conducted through a secret ballot.

Key Objectives of UNSC

• Under the UN Charter, the Council primarily seeks to:
  • Maintain international peace and security.
  • Investigate disputes and recommend peaceful settlements.
  • Impose sanctions and authorise collective measures when necessary.
  • Authorise peacekeeping and other enforcement actions.
  • Recommend the appointment of the UN Secretary-General and admission of new UN members.

India and UNSC Membership

• If elected for 2028–29, India will serve on the UNSC for the ninth time.
  • Its previous terms include 1950–51, 1967–68, 1972–73, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1991–92, 2011–12 and 2021–22.
  • India’s sole Asian-group competitor is Tajikistan.
• The regional dynamics are significant: Kyrgyzstan will occupy the other Asian seat for 2027–28, replacing Pakistan.

Why Does UNSC Membership Matter for India?

1. Greater Voice in Global Governance

Membership provides India with an institutional platform to influence debates on:

• International conflicts
• Terrorism
• Peacekeeping
• Emerging security threats

2. Representation of the Global South

India can use its position to highlight concerns of developing countries regarding:

• Development
• Equitable global governance
• Reform of multilateral institutions
• Greater representation in international decision-making

3. Counter-Terrorism Diplomacy

The UNSC remains an important forum for:

• Counter-terrorism measures.
• Action against terrorist financing.
• Addressing proliferation networks.

India can strengthen its diplomatic efforts against terrorism through the Council.

4. Strengthening India’s Permanent Seat Claim

Repeated successful elections can demonstrate:

• Diplomatic acceptability.
• Broad international support.
• India’s contribution to the UN system.

This can strengthen India’s argument for permanent membership of the UNSC.

Challenges Before India

1. Regional Competition

• India faces competition from other Asian candidates, making regional coalition-building important.

2. Geopolitical Rivalries

• India’s campaign operates amid competing interests involving major powers and regional groupings.

3. Divergent Global South Interests

• The Global South is not a homogeneous bloc.

Different countries have different priorities concerning:

• Development
• Security
• Trade
• Climate
• Geopolitical alignments

Therefore, India must build issue-based coalitions rather than assume automatic support.

4. Global Standing Alone Is Not Enough

• Recent elections demonstrate that economic and diplomatic weight does not automatically guarantee victory.
• The experience cited in the source is the 2026 Western European contest, where Germany lost despite its economic strength, while Kyrgyzstan secured strong support in Asia.

Way Forward for India

1. Early and Sustained Campaign

• Begin diplomatic outreach well before the election.

2. Engage Smaller States

• Smaller UN members can play a decisive role in elections.

3. Strengthen Regional Outreach

• Engage regional organisations and groupings.

4. Focus on Shared Priorities

India’s campaign should emphasise:

• Development
• Counter-terrorism
• Food security
• Energy security
• Peacekeeping
• Reform of global institutions

5. Build an Inclusive Narrative

• India should present its candidature not merely as an expression of national ambition but as a platform for Global South representation and a more democratic multilateral order.

Conclusion

India’s campaign for the 2028–29 UNSC term is more than an attempt to secure another elected seat. It provides an opportunity to demonstrate India’s ability to act as a constructive bridge between developed and developing countries, strengthen its Global South leadership, and advance reforms of the multilateral system.

The campaign should therefore combine early coalition-building, issue-based diplomacy and inclusive engagement to advance India’s broader vision of a representative, effective and multipolar UN order.

INFRASTRUCTURE

2. Digital Infrastructure in India

Context: India’s governance architecture has undergone a major transformation through Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which has improved the scale, speed and accessibility of public-service delivery.

 India’s Digital Economy

• Digital economy contributes around 12–14% of India’s GDP.
• It is projected to account for around 20% of GDP over the next decade.
• As per the State of India’s Digital Economy Report 2026, India is now the world’s fifth-largest digitalised economyand the fourth-highest ranked G20 economy.  

Key Milestones in India’s Digital Self-Reliance Landscape

• Third-largest Export Sector: Electronic goods have now become India’s third-largest export category.
• Employment and Women Participation:Electronic manufacturing ecosystem supports nearly 25 lakh jobs, with women accounting for nearly 30% of the workforce.
• Global Mobile Manufacturing Hub:India is now the world’s 2nd largest mobile phone manufacturer.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)

• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) refers to foundational digital systems that enable secure, seamless and interoperable interaction between citizens, businesses and governments.
• For digital infrastructure to deliver public value, it must be inclusive, interoperable and governed in the public interest. 
• When linked with payments and data exchange frameworks, it creates aunified architecture that strengthens state capacity and widens opportunity.

Foundations of India’s DPI: The JAM Trinity

• Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar enrolment and widespread mobile phone penetration created the base layer for India’s digital transformation.
• Jan Dhan Yojana (2014): It was launched as the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, set out to give every unbanked adult in India a bank account.
  • It led to a widened financial participation where savings entered the formal system strengthening economic agency.
• Aadhaar:It enabled unique identification and secure authentication for efficient service delivery. Access to services became more reliable and transparent.
• Affordable Mobile Data: Wireless data cost dropped drastically making digital services more affordable.
• Mobile Phones and Connectivity: Fifth generation (5G) mobile services are now available in 99.9% of districts, covering 85% of the population.
  • This extensive digital reach ensured that identity and banking were not confined to urban centres.

Challenges

• Fragmented Federal Coordination: Implementation of DPI often requires coordination between the Union Government, States, local bodies, and private stakeholders.
  • Variations in digital readiness and administrative capacity across states create uneven implementation and service delivery.
• Dependence on Private Technology Ecosystem: Although DPI is publicly driven, many services depend heavily on private fintech firms which may create systemic vulnerabilities and reduce strategic autonomy.
• Language and Accessibility Barriers: Many digital platforms are still not fully accessible in regional languages or for persons with disabilities.
• Trust Deficit Among Citizens: Concerns regarding misuse of personal data, digital fraud, surveillance, and online scams reduce public trust in digital systems.
• Weak Grievance Redressal Mechanisms: Delayed grievance resolution reduces the effectiveness and credibility of DPI systems.
• Cross-Border Data and Sovereignty Concerns: With increasing global integration of digital platforms and cloud infrastructure, concerns arise regarding data localization, cross-border data flows, and protection of national digital sovereignty.
• Environmental and Energy Costs:Large-scale digital infrastructure, data centers, telecom networks, and cloud computing systems consume significant energy and contribute to environmental stress.

Government Initiatives 

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): It enables instant, interoperable and secure transactions between individuals and merchants in real time.
  • The International Monetary Fund, in its 2025 report on growing retail digital payments, recognised UPI as the world’s largest retail fast payment system by transaction volume. 
  • UPI accounted for85% of India’s digital payment transactions by volume in FY 2025–26.
• Public Financial Management System (PFMS): It is a web based online transaction system that enables end to end monitoring of government funds and electronic payments to implementing agencies and beneficiaries.
  • This reform helped remove duplicate and fake beneficiariesand reduce leakages. 
• Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC):Launched in 2022, ONDC is an open network designed to democratise digital commerce by connecting buyers and sellers through interoperable platforms rather than a single marketplace.
• DigiLocker:Launched in 2015, DigiLocker introduced a secure digital document wallet for citizens. 
  • It allows individuals to store, access and share authenticated electronic documents with consent-based access.
• UMANG:Launched in 2017, UMANG, or the Unified Mobile Application for New age Governance, was designed to advance mobile governance in India.
  • It provides a single window mobile and web platform to access services from central, state and local government bodies.
• IndiaAI Mission: It is strengthening AI education, infrastructure and responsible AI adoption. It is promoting AI skills across schools, higher education institutions and professional training programmes.
• PM GatiShakti:Launched in 2021, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan provides a GIS based digital platform for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure projects.
• Global Partnership:Government has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and agreements with 24 countries for cooperation on India Stack and Digital Public Infrastructure.
  • These partnerships focus on sharing technical knowledge and supporting replication of digital governance platforms.

Way Forward

1. Strengthen Interoperability

Develop common standards so that different government systems can communicate securely.

2. Bridge the Digital Divide

Ensure access for:

• Rural populations
• Elderly persons
• Persons with disabilities
• Digitally illiterate citizens
• Linguistic minorities

3. Strengthen Data Governance

• Ensure strong safeguards for:
• Privacy + cybersecurity + consent + data sovereignty

4. Improve Grievance Redressal

• Every DPI platform should have accessible human and digital grievance mechanisms.

5. Reduce Excessive Private Dependence

• Develop resilient and diversified technological ecosystems while retaining private-sector innovation.

6. Promote Green Digital Infrastructure

• Use renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies for data centres and telecom infrastructure.

Conclusion

India’s digital transformation has moved beyond merely putting government services online. DPI has created foundational digital rails for identity, payments, documents, commerce, governance and infrastructure planning.

The next stage should focus not merely on expanding digitalisation, but on making it inclusive, secure, interoperable, accountable and environmentally sustainable so that the benefits of India’s digital economy reach citizens at the margins as well.

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