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Question 51 of 58 · International Economic Organisations
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SSC

The number of countries with veto power in the United Nations Security Council is:

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Answer: Option B — 5

Detailed Solution

Five countries have veto power in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC): the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France. They are the permanent members, often called the P5.

Composition of the Security Council:

  • The UNSC has 15 members.
  • 5 are permanent members with veto power.
  • 10 are non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.
  • Non-permanent seats are distributed among regional groups.

What the veto means:

  • A decision on substantive (non-procedural) matters requires at least nine affirmative votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members.
  • A negative vote by any permanent member blocks the decision; this is called the veto.
  • An abstention by a permanent member does not count as a veto.

History:

  • The UN was founded on 24 October 1945, after the Second World War.
  • The five permanent members were the main Allied powers that won the war.
  • The Republic of China (Taiwan) held China's seat until 1971, when it was transferred to the People's Republic of China.
  • The Soviet Union's seat passed to Russia in 1991.

Functions of the Security Council:

  • Maintaining international peace and security.
  • Imposing sanctions and authorising the use of force.
  • Establishing peacekeeping operations.
  • Recommending the appointment of the UN Secretary-General and the admission of new members.

India and the Security Council:

  • India has been elected as a non-permanent member eight times, most recently for 2021 to 2022.
  • India seeks a permanent seat as part of reform of the Security Council, along with Germany, Japan and Brazil (the G4).

Criticism of the veto:

  • Critics say the veto allows a few countries to block action even in serious crises.
  • Reform proposals include expanding the number of members and restricting the veto.

Headquarters:

The UN headquarters is in New York.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗4, 6 and 10 do not match; 10 is the number of non-permanent members.

Quick tip

Remember: UNSC = 15 members (5 permanent with veto: USA, Russia, China, UK, France + 10 non-permanent).

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International Economic Organisations — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of International Economic Organisations, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers international economic and financial organisations: the IMF, the World Bank group, the WTO, the Asian Development Bank, the New Development Bank, the AIIB, OPEC, the OECD and groupings such as the G20, along with their headquarters, founding and functions. Questions usually ask where an organisation is headquartered, when it was set up, and what it does. For example, the IMF and World Bank were created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the WTO replaced GATT in 1995, and the New Development Bank, set up by the BRICS countries, is headquartered in Shanghai. Practise the international economic organisations questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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