On July 13, 2026, India has made new bid for the non-permanent membership of UNSC for the period 01January 2028 to 31 December, 2029. India will contest for lone seat of the Asia-Pacific group against Tajikistan in the elections to be held in June, 2027. Since India’s success in this election in UN General Assembly will depend on the large group of Global South countries, India has made he appeal accordingly. India’s Foreign Minister Jaishankar stated on 13 July, 2026 that India will work for a secure, peaceful and equitable world where the voice of the Global South is heard in equal measure (The Hindu: 14 July, 2026). So far India has been non-permanent member of UNSC for 8 times, a record equal to China but below the highest record held by Japan (12 Times), Brazil (11 Times) and Argentina (9 times)
In this background, India’s long-pending claim for the permanent membership of the Security Council also comes into focus. This Article describes the grounds of India’s claim for permanent membership as well as present status of UNSC reforms agenda.
NON-Permanent Membership
So far, India has been elected seven times to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member. India has served eight times as a non-permanent member in the UNSC: 1950-51, 1955-56, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, 2011-2012 and finally in 1921-22.
India has been elected as a non-permanent member of UNSC for eight times so far. However, the permanent membership of the Security Council eludes India.
Controversy about Initial offer to India for permanent membership?
It was reported in the Washington Post that India was offered a permanent seat on the council 55 years ago, in 1955, but that offer, made by the United States and the Soviet Union, was declined by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He said that the seat should be given to China. The primary reason for this offer was that the Security Council seat was then held by Taiwan and western countries were not inclined to give this seat to China. India considered China as the natural successor to this sent, a claim denied by the US and other western countries.
Need for Reforms of the UNSC and the UN
1. When United nations was established in 1945, the permanent membership of Security council was given to five global powers: US, Russia, China, UK and France. Since then there has been fundamental change in the power equation of global powers in view of some emerging powers like japan, Germany, India, Brazil and South Africa. The UNSC does not reflect this reality, hence it needs reforms.
2. The present structure of the UNSC is not able to address the contemporary global challenges like hybrid wars, civil conflicts, climate change and issues of sustainable development. The UNSC as well as the entire structure of the United nations needs restructuring and reforms.
India’s claim for the permanent membership of the Security Council is based on Following grounds:
1. When UN was established in 1945, the big five powers were given the permanent seat in the Security Council. Since then not only the world has expanded but its composition has also changed. It was only in 1965 that the non-permanent seats were increased from ten to fifteen. However, in last 60 years, there has been no change in the category of permanent membership. Now, India has emerged as a leading global player in economic terms. India now holds the fourth position in the global economy. It now appears strange and unrealistic that the UK and France (which are behind India in GDP) continue to be the permanent members, while the same status is denied to India.
2. In terms of population, India is now the largest country in the world, leaving behind China in the second place. India is also the largest democracy in the world. Since her independence, India has displayed commitment to human rights, rule of law, and respect for the sovereignty and equality of nations, the very principles the UN stands for.
3. India has made huge contribution to the fulfillment of the aims and objectives of the UN. India has opposed colonialism and racialism and supported the peaceful settlement on international disputes and the cause of global peace and disarmament. She has been elected seven times as non-permanent member of Security Council, and has discharged her responsibility in effective manner.
4. India’s contribution to the peacekeeping activities is impressive. So far (2025) India has taken part in more than 50 Peacekeeping missions with a total contribution exceeding 290,000 troops. At present (2025), India’s 5900 troops are deployed in nine active peacekeeping missions of United nations. So far India has lost 180 troops in these operations.
The high standards of performance maintained consistently by the Indian troops have won them high regard worldwide. In 2023, India received the UN’s highest peacekeeping honour, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, posthumously awarded to Indian peacekeepers Shishupal Singh and Sanwala Ram Vishnoi and civilian UN worker Shaber Taher Ali for their sacrifice in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From 24th-25th February 2025, the Centre of United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) hosted the ‘Conference on Women Peacekeepers from the Global South’ at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi (Press Information Bureau: 09 March, 2025). India’s role in other UN bodies and agencies like International Court of Justice and Human Rights Council (HRC) is also noteworthy. India’s has been continuously a member of the HRC since its inception in 2006.
5. Also, India is one of the main contributors to the UN regular budget. India contributes 1.016% to the United Nations regular budget. Indian contribution to United Nations Democracy Fund was $ 250 million for 2009. In 2015-16, India’s contribution to the United Nations was $36 million, which was 55 per cent more compared with the previous year. India paid $35.187 million for its 2026 assessment in January 2026. This timely payment earned India a spot on the UN Honour Roll.
6. In last 20 years or so, India has emerged as the leading player in the management of global affairs. She is now the member of G-20 group of leading economies of the world. India has been playing leading role in climate change and world trade negotiations. India is also one of the members of BRICS and G-20. India is one of the outreach members invited for consultation in G-7 Summits on regular basis.
Progress on the Reforms of the UNSC
The reform and expansion of permanent membership of Security Council has been in the of UN agenda since the Special Summit of UN was convened in 1992. But no tangible progress has been made in this regard so far due to number of factors. The reform process is slow and tardy. Most of the permanent members are not inclined to share the special privilege enjoyed by them. For the last 20 years or so, India has been seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council The four countries-Brazil, Germany, Japan, and India, are currently seeking permanent membership of Security Council. They are known as G-4 group. According to their proposal, the UN Security Council should be expanded beyond the current fifteen members to twenty-five members.
The general Assembly appointed a Task force in 1992 to suggest proposals for reform, which submitted its report in 1996. It suggested for evolving a consensus among members for reform. However, such consensus has not emerged so far. Again, in 2005, the Secretary-General of UN, Boutros Boutros Ghali presented another proposal named as ‘In Larger Freedom’, which proposes to increase the membership of the Council to 24 from 15 at present. The proposal was discussed in 2005 Summit of UN, but no consensus was forged. Meanwhile, African countries have also demanded one permanent seat for an African country. Many countries support the idea of increasing only the non- permanent membership or increasing permanent membership without veto power.
The membership of Security Council has become a political issue. The countries which are opposed to the permanent membership of G-4 countries have organized under the banner of Coffee Club. Its members are: Italy, Spain, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan is opposed to India’s membership, Spain and Italy oppose Germany, Argentina and Mexico have opposed Brazil, and South Korea is opposed to the membership of Japan. The coffee Club is now known as ‘Uniting for Consensus’.
As far as India’s membership is concerned, four out of five permanent members except China have categorically supported her claim. Meanwhile all the permanent members of UNSC except China have supported India’s claim for the permanent member of the Council. India has also gained support from many other countries for its claims to the UNSC membership. Meanwhile, India has also intensified her diplomatic efforts to seek the support of members of UN in favour of his claim. Also, the foreign ministers of G-4 countries have claimed that as democracies with shared political values including respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights and a commitment to multilateralism, the G4 countries hold a number of common positions on the major contemporary challenges to international peace and security. They noted with satisfaction the important contributions being made by their countries to the working of the Security Council and to the maintenance of international peace and security. They reaffirmed their willingness and capacity to take on major responsibilities in this regard. They stated that the international system would benefit from the expansion of the UN Security Council, which would ensure that the Council is truly reflective of current geopolitical realities and make it stronger, more representative, legitimate, effective and efficient.
Present Status
The proposal for the reforms of the Security Council is pending before the UN General Assembly for the last two years to elicit members’ opinion. The text-based negotiations are also launched in the UN General Assembly in 2015, in which each member state will have to give her views in writing. The final proposal will be passed by the two-third majority of the General Assembly and will be placed before the Security Council for final approval. It requires the nine votes of Security Council including the votes of five permanent members. If such resolution is passed by both the General Assembly and the Security Council, the Charter of the UN will be amended accordingly. Since reform negotiations have entered the penultimate stage, the opponents and supporters of reforms have become very active.
The foreign ministers of India, Japan, Brazil and Germany (G-4 group) have reiterated many times to accelerate reform of the United Nations Security Council. They usually meet during the session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. The G4 Ministers reaffirmed the need for an early reform of the Council including the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, the improvement of working methods and the Council’s representativeness as well as enhanced role of developing countries and major contributors to the United Nations, in order to make the Council more legitimate, effective and representative. But in the final analysis, the present permanent members of the UNSC did not display any political will or keenness to push hard the reforms of the Security Council. The reforms of the UNSC are not likely to happen in near future.
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