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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed India's bid for a permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This comes a day after US President Joe Biden and France's Emmanuel Macron made a similar pitch while addressing the General Assembly.
Addressing the UN General Assembly, Starmer called for change in UNSC in order to make it a "more representative body". He said that the Security Council needs to become an organisation which is "willing to act" and "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," said the UK PM.
Earlier, Chile’s President Gabriel Boric Font, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden, Micronesia’s President Wesley Simina have also voiced support for India's bid for permanent representation at the UNSC.
France, US Back India's Bid
Macron said that inclusion of countries like India, Japan and Germany would make the UN body more efficient. "Let's make the UN more efficient. We need to make it more representative and that's why France is in favour of the Security Council being expanded. Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be permanent members, along with two countries that Africa will decide to represent them," he said during UNGA address.
Last week, during the Quad leaders' summit hosted by the US, President Joe Biden had asserted on the need for comprehensive reforms of the UN body.
What is UNSC And Who Are Its Members
The Security Council is a UN body with five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries. The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France, and the United States, while the non-permanent members are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly. It was founded in 1945.
India's Bid For Permanent Seat At UNSC
New Delhi has been demanding a permanent seat in the council and holds that it deserves to be a member of the security council. New Delhi said that by excluding the world's fifth-largest economy, the UNSC does not reflect contemporary geo-political realities.
India refers to the UNSC as an outdated structure which needs immediate reform for multilateralism to be effective. New Delhi last sat at the UN high table as a non-permanent member in 2021-22.
“Our question therefore is how much longer will the will of five members continue to override the collective voice of 188 member states?” India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said earlier this year.
Earlier, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India will definitely get permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council as there is a feeling in the world that it should get the position, but the country will have to work harder this time for it.