India’s quest for a greater role in the United Nations stems from its historic role in the organization since gaining independence, its intrinsic values, place in contemporary international politics and its ambitions as one of the fastest growing economic powers in Asia and beyond.
In one of the most significant diplomatic victories since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, the 55-member Asia-Pacific group at the UN has unanimously endorsed India’s candidature for the non-permanent seat in the Security Council.
Elections for the five non-permanent members of the 15-nation Council for the period of 2021-22 are scheduled for the middle of 2020.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin in a tweet thanked the group for unanimously supporting New Delhi.
Every year the 193-member UN General Assembly elects five non-permanent members to a two-year term. China, France, Russia, the UK and the US are the five permanent members of the world body.
The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis – five for African and Asian countries, one for East European Countries, two for Latin American and Caribbean Countries and two for Western European and other countries.
India was elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for seven previous terms. The current non-permanent members are Belgium, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Germany, Indonesia, Kuwait, Peru, Poland and South Africa.
New Delhi has been campaigning for a permanent seat in UNSC for some time and taking a series of initiatives at bilateral and multilateral levels on UN Security Council Reform.
India’s quest for a larger role in the United Nations stems from its historic contribution to the organization since independence, its intrinsic values, place in contemporary international politics, and its ambitions as a traditional power in Asia and beyond.
During its campaign, New Delhi has highlighted its regular and significant contributions to the UN in peacekeeping, where it has been the largest cumulative contributor since 1950.