India gets strong support for permanent seat at UN Security Council
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New York: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday joined US President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron in supporting India becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Keir Starmer told the United Nations General Assembly's seventy-ninth session in New York that the UNSC should become a "more representative body, willing to act - not paralysed by politics".
The UNSC is made up of five permanent members, namely Russia, the UK, China, France, and the United States, with power to veto any resolution and alongside there are 10 non-permanent member countries elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly.
Starmer called for the inclusion of Brazil, India, Japan, and Germany as permanent members in the Security Council alongside African representation.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday pitched for India alongside urging UN General Assembly to make United Nations more effective by ‘making them more representative’, adding that ‘I repeat here, is in favor of the Security Council being expanded’.
During his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, US President Joe Biden supported permanent membership for New Delhi in a reformed UN Security Council, while offering support to reforming global institutions to reflect India's important voice.
Speaking at the 'Summit of the Future' on Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio termed the 15-nation UNSC ‘outdated’ and warned that its authority was eroding making it eventually losing all credibility unless its composition and working methods are reformed.
India has long been demanding for inclusion in UNSC saying that the 15-nation council founded in 1945 does not reflect geo-political realities of the 21st Century.