Musk said India 'not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd'
Tesla CEO and owner of microblogging platform X, Elon Musk, said India not having a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is "absurd". Musk was replying to a response by American-born Israeli businessman Michael Eisenberg on a post of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres that said, "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."
On Guterres's post, Michael Eisenberg said, "And what about India? Better yet is to dismantle the @UN and build something new with real leadership."
Reposting Eisenberg's post, Elon Musk said, "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."
India has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for eight terms (16 years).
India is a member of the G4, a group of nations that back each other to seek permanent membership of the UNSC and advocate for reform in the UNSC.
Last month, External Affairs Minister S took a pointed swipe at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC and likened it to an "old club where existing member nations resist admitting new members.
Addressing the Rotary Institute 2023 event in Bengaluru in December, 2023, Jaishankar said, UNSC was like an “old club" where members are reluctant to have their practices scrutinised or questioned.
“Security Council is like an old club, where there are set members who don't want to let go of the grip. They want to keep control over the club. Not very keen to admit more members, not keen to have their practices questioned," news agency ANI reported S Jaishankar as saying.