External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday thanked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for highlighting the growing desire of a majority of member countries for reforming the Security Council, the UN's top organ.
India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the 15-member top organ of the world body, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century.
"Thank you Secretary General for highlighting the growing desire for reforming the Security Council. Your presence at the Open Debate yesterday is deeply appreciated," Jaishankar tweeted.
Jaishankar arrived here on Tuesday to preside over two signature events on counter-terrorism and reformed multilateralism being held under India’s current Presidency of the UN Security Council before the curtains come down this month on the country’s two-year tenure as an elected member of the powerful 15-nation Council.
His reaction came in response to UN chief Guterres's tweet in which he said a majority of UN member countries acknowledge that the Security Council should be reformed to reflect today’s geopolitical realities.
"A majority of @UN member countries now acknowledge that the Security Council should be reformed to reflect today’s geopolitical realities. I hope regional groups & countries can work together to achieve greater consensus on the way forward and the modalities of reform," Guterres wrote.
On December 1, India assumed the monthly rotating Presidency of the Security Council, the second time after August 2021 that India is presiding over the Council during its two-year tenure as an elected UNSC member.
India, whose 2021-2022 term on the Council ends December 31, has been at the forefront of efforts calling for urgent reform of the Security Council, which has remained deeply divisive in dealing with current challenges.
India has asserted that the Council, in its current form, does not reflect today's geo-political realities and its credibility is at risk if nations such as developing powers like India do not have a permanent seat at the horse-shoe table.
