Is India’s UNSC push gaining momentum? Visegrad 4 countries back its permanent seat bid
India’s big push for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council received support from the four members of the Visegrád Group (V4) during their first foreign ministers’ meeting with India on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In this regard, Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were united in supporting India’s bid.
After the first Visegrád Group (V4) + India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, Juraj Blanár, says, “We all agree, as V4 countries, that India, as part of the Global South, an upcoming superpower in the Indo-Pacific region, must be at the table as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
The statement from Juraj Blanár marks a clear expression of support from the four Central European countries as India continues to seek a larger role in the UN’s top decision-making body.
India, V4 countries agree to deepen cooperation
The development comes as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called the first V4-India foreign ministers’ meeting as a “new historic occasion”. The countries that agreed to strengthen political, economic, technology, defence and people-to-people ties, also agreed to hold annual meetings of their foreign ministers and create an annual business forum.
In this regard, Jaishankar said India and the V4 countries would explore greater cooperation in technology and innovation, while also seeking to strengthen existing defence ties.
He said, “We have a very strong history with all the V4 countries in defence. We want to refresh and take forward that record and that cooperation,” he said.
Why is India’s permanent seat at UNSC significant?
The argument for India’s permanent seat in USC is straightforward – the world has changed since the Security Council was created, but its permanent membership has not. Moreover, in 1945, much of Asia and Africa was still under colonial rule. Many countries that now have major populations, economies and diplomatic influence were either not independent or did not exist as sovereign states.
It should be noted that India has served eight times as an elected member of the Security Council, most recently in 2021 and 2022. This matter rests on several factors such as its population, economic weight, contribution to UN peacekeeping and growing diplomatic influence. Moreover, India has played an active role in discussions on counterterrorism, development, maritime security and international peace. For New Delhi, the Security Council reform is not simply about adding India to the permanent membership but about changing the structure of the world’s most powerful multilateral security institution so that it better reflects the world of today.
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