After US and France, UK backs India’s bid for permanent UN Security Council seat

NEW DELHI: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in his address at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, voiced support for Indian representation, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The UK PM’s push for India follows similar support from US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron who backed India’s inclusion as a permanent member of the UNSC, according to reports received here.

Addressing the General Assembly, the UK Prime Minister said that “the Security Council has to change to become a more representative body, willing to act – not paralysed by politics”.

“We want to see permanent African representation on the Council, Brazil, India, Japan and Germany as permanent members, and more seats for elected members as well”, Starmer said.

Currently, the UNSC consists of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. The non-permanent members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a two-year term. The five permanent members—Russia, the United Kingdom, China, France, and the United States—hold the power to veto any substantive resolution.

India has been at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for urgent long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member. India argues that the 15-nation council founded in 1945 is not fit for purpose in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geo-political realities. India last sat at the UN high table as a non-permanent member in 2021-22. There has been a growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.