Prez Putin calls for more say for India, Brazil and South Africa

Moscow: India, Brazil and South Africa should be represented at the UN Security Council and their weight in making key international decisions should increase, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Addressing the plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin also noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India was becoming more powerful year after year.

“Such countries that acquire significant weight in international affairs simply by virtue of their potential and also have the possibility and influence of the settlement of key international issues should be represented in the UN Security Council,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.

“What countries are these? This is India: the population is already more than one and a half billion people, (with) seven-plus per cent economic growth.

This is a powerful country. It is becoming more powerful year after year under the leadership of Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi,” he said at the conference organised by the Moscow-based think tank.

India, the world’s most populous country, has been at the forefront of years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a seat as a permanent member at the UN high table, which in its current form does not represent geo-political realities of the 21st century.