India’s long-standing demand for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council has received support from four Central European countries. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, members of the Visegrad Group, or V4 backed India’s bid during the first V4-India meeting held on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York.
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said the four countries agreed that India should have a permanent place on the UN Security Council. He said India, as an important country of the Global South and an emerging power in the Indo-Pacific, should have a seat at the table where major global security decisions are taken.
Why India wants a permanent UNSC seat
India has been demanding changes to the structure of the UN Security Council for several decades. The main argument is that the current system does not reflect the world as it exists today. The Security Council was created in 1945, when large parts of Asia and Africa were still under colonial rule.
Since then, countries such as India have grown significantly in terms of population, economy and global influence. However, the five permanent members of the Security Council have remained unchanged.
India has been elected to the Security Council eight times as a non-permanent member. Its most recent two-year terms were in 2021 and 2022.
India’s case for a permanent seat
New Delhi has pointed to several reasons for its demand, including its large population, growing economy, role in international diplomacy and contribution to UN peacekeeping missions. India has also been involved in global discussions on issues such as terrorism, development, maritime security and international peace.
In its priorities document for the 81st UN General Assembly, India argued that the UN’s response to several conflicts has raised concerns about the organisation’s effectiveness, credibility and legitimacy.
For India, Security Council reform is therefore about more than securing a permanent seat for itself. New Delhi has argued that the Council needs to be made more representative of the current global order.
Which countries support India?
India’s permanent membership bid has received backing from several major countries. France has repeatedly supported India’s claim, while the United Kingdom has also backed expanding the Security Council to include India as a permanent member.
The United States has expressed support for India’s permanent membership in principle. Russia has also backed India’s bid.
India is also part of the G4 group along with Brazil, Germany and Japan. The four countries support one another’s claims for permanent membership and work together on Security Council reform.
What does the G4 proposal say?
The G4 has suggested increasing the size of the UN Security Council from 15 members to 25 or 26. Under the proposal, six new permanent seats would be created. Two would go to African countries, two to the Asia-Pacific region, one to Latin America and the Caribbean, and one to the Western Europe and Others group.
The plan would also add four or five more non-permanent seats. However, UN members have not reached an agreement on how the Council should be expanded.
Why has reform remained difficult?
The five existing permanent members i.e the United States, Russia, China, France and the UK have different views on how Security Council reform should be carried out.
Key disagreements include the number of new members, which regions should receive permanent representation and whether any new permanent members should receive veto powers. There are also differences over how the Council should operate after any expansion.
China remains the only permanent member that has not given clear support to India’s bid.
Beijing has said it understands India’s aspirations, but has also stressed the need for wider agreement among UN members before any reform is carried out.
The lack of consensus among major powers and UN member states remains one of the biggest hurdles to India’s decades-old campaign for a permanent seat.
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