'Worthy candidates': Russia backs India's permanent membership in UNSC

Russia has voiced its support for India and Brazil as “worthy candidates” for permanent membership in the UN Security Council, calling them “key international actors.” During the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday expressed his support for India, becoming a permanent member of the Security Council.

In his address to the General Assembly just an hour before External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the UN and Security Council have to be aligned to contemporary realities.

“We note India and Brazil in particular as key international actors and worthy candidates for permanent membership within the Council whilst simultaneously unilaterally and mandatorily raising the profile of Africa,” Lavrov said.

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India has been at the forefront of efforts at the UN to push for urgent long-pending reform of the Security Council, emphasising that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution. There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.

Later, addressing a press conference at UN headquarters Saturday, he was asked why he mentioned only India and Brazil for permanent membership and not South Africa.

“I said that we view India and Brazil as strong candidates given they are leading international players, as strong candidates for permanent membership at the Security Council with the condition that at the same time, in the same way, the profile of Africa will be raised,” Lavrov said.

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