During his address at the 79th UN General Assembly on Thursday, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed support for India’s permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC). This comes after similar calls for India’s membership made by French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
He stated, “The Security Council has to change to become a more representative body, willing to act—not paralysed by politics,” in his remarks to the General Assembly.
“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,” he added.
The statement was made just after French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden advocated for India to be included as a permanent member of the UNSC.
There are five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council at present. The UN General Assembly chooses the non-permanent members for a two-year term. The United States, China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom are the five permanent members who have the authority to veto any significant resolution.
France, US Back India
Earlier, on Wednesday, during his speech to the UN General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron supported India’s entry as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
In addition, he supported the admission of Brazil, Japan, Germany, and two African countries, highlighting the necessity of increasing the UNSC’s inclusivity and representation.
“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,” Macron noted.
US President Joe Biden endorsed India’s bid for permanent membership in the UN Security Council last week.
The leaders of the US, India, Japan, and Australia—the Quad—emphasised in a joint statement during the Quad Leaders’ Summit the necessity of substantial changes for the UN organisation.
This came after President Biden reaffirmed US support for India’s membership in a reformed Security Council during bilateral conversations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 21 in Wilmington, Delaware.
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