India has strongest chance of getting permanent seat at UNSC if new members added: Survey | India News

NEW DELHI: India has the strongest chance of getting a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) if the number of members grows in the next decade, according to a forecast by experts.
According to a new survey by think-tank Atlantic Council, there is a strong presumption that India will be one of the beneficiaries if new seats are added to the coveted group in the next few years.
Among the five permanent members of the 15-nation Council, US, UK, France and Russia have supported a permanent seat for India in the UN body.

China is the only country which has not backed India’s bid for a permanent seat, which would give it the veto power.
The survey said that over half of those forecasting that Japan, Brazil, Nigeria, or South Africa will gain a seat also say that India will get one.
India has a 26% chance of getting a UNSC permanent seat followed by Japan (11%) and Brazil (9%), it said.
However, 64% of the respondents expect no new permanent seats to be added to the UN’s most powerful body by 2033.
The survey said that beyond factors like institutional inertia and the self-interest of the Council’s current permanent members, a major challenge in expanding the group is the complexity of doing so.
“If additional seats are added, it will be more than one because the rest of the world will not come [together] around a single candidate,” one of the respondents told Atlantic Council.
India’s two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council ended last year after it presided over the 15-nation Council.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar has already declared India’s candidature as a non-permanent member for the 2028-29 term.
India and other G4 nations of Brazil, Germany and Japan have 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.
(With inputs from agencies)