UK calls for UN reform with permanent Security Council seat for India
United Nations as one of its top transnational priorities and supported India's bid for permanent membership of the powerful Security Council. India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying it rightly deserved a place as a permanent member of the United Nations. Currently, the UNSC has five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US.
Only a permanent member has the power to veto any substantive resolution. In a speech at a conference at the Chatham House think tank in London on Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called for a reinvigorated multilateral system that is more reflective of the times. He pointed out that the world's economic centre of gravity is shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic and towards the Indo-Pacific but the multilateral institutions are yet to catch up.
«I have five transnational priorities. First, reform of the United Nations Security Council. We want to see permanent African representation and membership extended to India, Brazil, Germany and Japan,» said Cleverly.
«I know this is a bold reform. But it will usher the Security Council into the 2020s. And the UNSC has grown before — albeit not since 1965.
My second priority is reform of the international financial institutions. This matters for climate finance and, of course, for poverty reduction,» he said. The minister also hailed India's leadership role with its presidency of the G20 in pitching for representation of poorer nations on the world stage.
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