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Elon Musk says India not having a permanent seat in UN Security Council is absurd

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 24 Jan 2024, 12:54 am

New Delhi: Billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said India not having a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) despite being the most populous country is "absurd".

Musk, who is the owner of social media platform X (formerly Twitter), feels India and Africa deserve to have their respective permanent seats in the UNSC.

He posted on X, "At some point, there needs to be a revision of the UN bodies. Problem is that those with excess power don’t want to give it up.

"India not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd. Africa collectively should also have a permanent seat imo."

Musk's comment is triggered by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' astonishment at Africa not having a permanent membership in the UNSC.

Guterres posted on X, "How can we accept that Africa still lacks a single Permanent Member in the Security Council Institutions must reflect today’s world, not that of 80 years ago.

"September’s Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to consider global governance reforms & re-build trust."

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last year took a dig at the UNSC calling it an "old club" over no permanent seat granted to India in the international body yet.

Addressing an event in Bengaluru, Jaishankar said the existing members of UNSC do not intend to lose their grip.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has questioned UNSC over not granting a permanent membership to India, which is the country's most populous country and the largest democracy in the world.

Speaking to French daily Les Echos, Modi had made a strong pitch for India's "rightful place" in the UNSC, which is one of the six principal organs of the UN tasked with maintaining international peace and security.

The Prime Minister had said as quoted by India Today, "How can we talk of it as a primary organ of a global body, when entire continents of Africa and Latin America are ignored?

"How can it claim to speak for the world when its most populous country, and its largest democracy, is not a permanent member."

While several major countries like the UK, the US, France and Russia have backed India's permanent membership, China, a hostile neighbour of New Delhi, is the only nation to oppose the proposal.

The UNSC, which was formed after the second World War, has five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members elected for a period of two years.

To become a permanent member in the UNSC, a country, India in this case, needs the support of two-third members of the UN General Assembly and all permanent members of the Security Council.

With China opposing India, New Delhi finds a hurdle to become the permanent member as P5 nations hold a veto power, which empowers a country to stop the proposal from passing with its opposition.