GS Paper - II
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer reaffirmed its support for a permanent seat for India at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a long-standing demand of Delhi. Addressing the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for the first time, Starmer said that the UNSC needs to be a more representative body.
What
- This comes just a day after French President Emmanuel Macron supported India’s bid for permanent membership.
- Stating that UN needs to become more “efficient” and “representative”, Macron said at the UNGA,
- France is in favour of the Security Council being expanded. Germany, Japan, India, and Brazil should be permanent members, as well as two countries that Africa will decide to represent it.
- UK and France are among the five permanent members of the UNSC, along with the United States, China, and Russia.
- This means that all these five countries have veto powers on any resolution or decision.
- Apart from this, the UNSC has ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
Flashback
- India was last made a non-permanent member in 2021-22. It has made a bid for a seat at the high table for 2028-29.
- Over the years, Delhi has demanded that India be made a permanent member of the UNSC, pointing out the need for reform.
- On 2 April, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed confidence that India will become a permanent member of the UNSC.
- He, however, flagged that the “world is full of competition” and “some will try to block us, will make that passage difficult or put some kind of obstacles, some kind of argument in the way.
- Among the five permanent members, UK, US, France and Russia have in the past expressed support for India’s permanent seat at the UNSC.
