So we won the UNSC seat, now what?

I imagine the Indian Ministry of External Affairs will be celebrating tonight, now that after a lot of lobbying they have finally won the non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat. Clearly the government is very happy, since they feel the election as an offset to all the damage that the CWG did to the Rising India rhetoric.

Now what? Obviously, the big thinkers of foreign policy in India Siddharth Varadrajan and C Raja Mohan have already given their take. The non-permanent seat is being seen by many as a sort of audition for India to later become a permanent member. Mr. Varadrajan sternly advises India not to be a US mouthpiece but instead develop its own identity as a "responsible" global power that can take its own decisions. This will raise its reputation in the eyes of rest of the world.

Hmm... I am thinking in very different lines. I would think that we can not possibly get a permanent seat without Uncle Sam's approval. Also, Uncle Sam still has the muscle in the world to do so, even when the rest of the world is not very enthusiastic about it (after all, they got us the NSG approval, albeit with support from some others). Moreover, the American  say-so in the world is waning, or at least the Chinese power is rising and consequently America is growing weaker by comparison. 

And it is not in the Chinese interest to give India a permanent seat. Since there is a lot of overlap in Indian and Chinese interests, why would Beijing want a potentially dissenting voice with veto power? And for precisely the same reason, the US has an interest in getting India the permanent membership because it will somewhat check the influence of China.

So, India has a very short time period before the window closes, that is US gets China as an equal contender in world dominance. After that it will be difficult for the US to take a big step like this without the Chinese approval or at least neutrality. Hence, may be we should take a gamble and become American protege for a little while and get them to sponsor our permanent stay in UNSC. Once we have the permanent lease, then  we can do whatever we want. Meanwhile, who cares what Mauritius or Zanzibar thinks?

Of course, this is just an idea - option in bureaucratic lingo; thank god I am not running the country.

Image: UNSC Chamber in New York
Image Credit: Patrick Gruban