India will be UN Security Council President for August, 2021

India, which has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, will serve as the president of the powerful 15-nation UN body for the month of August, 2021. The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the member states' names. According to the information released by the office of the UN spokesperson, India will assume the rotating presidency of the Council for the month of August next year. India will preside over the Council again for a month in 2022.

India, Norway, Ireland, Mexico and Kenya were elected as the non-permanent members of the UNSC for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021 on Wednesday. In a first-of-its-kind election, ambassadors and diplomats from 192 member states cast their ballots in the General Assembly wearing masks and in adherence with the strict social distancing guidelines amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

India, the endorsed candidate from the Asia-Pacific States, won 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast. Tunisia will begin 2021 as the President of the Council in January, followed by a month each for the rest of the year by the UK, the US, Vietnam, China, Estonia, France, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Niger.

In 2021, the newly-elected members India, Ireland, Kenya, Norway and Mexico will sit at the UN high-table along with the five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the UK and the US as well as non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.

The two-year terms of Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa are ending this year. This is the eighth time that India will sit at the Council’s horseshoe-shaped table. Previously, India was elected for the years 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and most recently in 2011-2012.