'Worthy candidate': Russia backs India for permanent seat on UN Security Council

Russian Finance Minister on Sunday expressed support for India becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, calling it a key international actor. While addressing the 77th UN General Assembly, Sergey Lavrov said India is a worthy candidate for permanent membership in the UNSC.

"We see prospective of making Security Council more democratic via representation of countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. India and Brazil, in particular, are key international actors and should be counted for permanent membership in the council," he said.

India is currently a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council and will complete its two-year tenure in December 2022 when it will preside over the Council.

Russia has indicated a willingness to support India’s candidacy in the past but this is the first time it has done so categorically in public. With this, India is the only country to have the endorsement of all three Western permanent members as well as Russia – which means it has the backing of all permanent members except China.

Increasing support for India's permanent UNSC membership

Recently, the United States also showed explicit support for India's permanent membership in the UNSC. US President Joe Biden during his address to the UN general assembly categorically said America supports India's bid. Besides this, there's a growing chorus among G4 countries (Germany, Japan, Brazil, and India) for New Delhi's membership and for representation of African countries.

India has been leading years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a permanent seat at the Council, as the current form does not represent the contemporary world realities. So far, 32 countries including India have called for urgent and comprehensive reforms in the UNSC to adapt to the current geopolitical realities.

The signatories of the Joint Statement recognized that a resilient world needs reformed and effective multilateralism to deliver solutions for poverty, climate change, pandemics, global food security, terrorism, and international conflict. The signatories include Brazil, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mongolia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, and Vanuatu.

(With inputs from agency)