US backs India's bid for permanent seat in UN Security Council

India has been eyeing a permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the past several years, citing its contributions to peacekeeping missions, growing global influence and being the world's largest democracy.

The US has supported India in its push to have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, a move that also found support among other leaders of the Quad -- Japan and Australia -- in its joint statement following the Quad Leaders' Summit in the US.

This came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Wilmington, Delaware.

A statement released by the White House said, "President (Joe) Biden shared with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi that the US supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India's important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed UN Security Council."

India has been eyeing a permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the past several years, citing its contributions to peacekeeping missions, growing global influence and being the world's largest democracy.

In a joint statement released after the Quad summit, the leaders reiterated the need to reform the UN Security Council, stressing to make the body more representative, inclusive, transparent and democratic.

"We will reform the UN Security Council, recognising the urgent need to make it more representative, inclusive, transparent, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council. This expansion of permanent seats should include representation for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean in a reformed Security Council," the statement said.

In September last year, Biden had supported India's bid to the UN Security Council during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi.

A joint statement issued after the bilateral talks between PM Modi and Biden said the latter reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member, and, welcomed, once again, India's candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29.

Apart from the Quad nations, several other countries have also backed India's candidature for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

The UN Security Council currently recognises five permanent members: the US, the UK, France, Russia and China. These nations wield significant power, including the ability to veto resolutions.

Non-permanent members, elected for two-year terms, contribute to the council's agenda but lack the veto power of their permanent counterparts.

India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council eight times, with the most recent being the 2021-22 term.

In May, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that India was exerting pressure to get a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.