New Delhi: Four out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have bilaterally expressed support for India’s candidature for a permanent seat at the global body, the government said on Monday.
In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said India has accorded the ‘highest priority’ to getting permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council (UNSC).
“Four out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have bilaterally expressed official affirmations of support for India’s candidature to a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC,” Muraleedharan said. He, however, did not name the countries.
“In the joint statement issued on the occasion of the visit of the Indian Prime Minister to China in May 2015, it is stated that ‘China attaches great importance to India’s status in international affairs as a large developing country, and understands and supports India’s aspiration to play a greater role in the UN including in the Security Council,” Muraleedharan stated.
At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly of the UN.
The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.
India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Japan are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UNSC which has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The process of UNSC reforms is being presently discussed under the intergovernmental negotiation framework of the UN General Assembly.
Last week, the grouping of India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) expressed ‘frustration’ over the ‘slow’ pace of progress on reform of the UN Security Council and said the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process to expand the key global body.
PTI