Jeffrey Sachs Backs India's Bid For Permanent UNSC Seat, Urges China Support

New Delhi: In an exclusive interview with Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, renowned American economist and UN advisor Jeffrey Sachs strongly backed India’s claim for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). He said that it is essential to save the United Nations and move the world towards a “truly multipolar order”.

Speaking to Republic Media Network Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, Sachs said he has urged China to support India’s inclusion as the sixth permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The UN advisor added that India and China must resolve their disputes and cooperate to build a multilateral world not dominated by the US or the West, calling such dominance “passe”.

"I think this is extremely important to save the U.N., so I want India to have a permanent seat in the Security Council. I want China to support that, and I want India and China to resolve their disputes because the main objective of the two should be to create a multipolar world that is not dominated by the United States or dominated by the West, because that's passé. And in order for that to happen, that requires cooperation. The BRICS is a great format for that."

Further, Sachs criticised the Quad grouping, calling it an “American game” and stressing that India is too great a power to play the games of an "unstable country".

"What is India doing in the Quad? India is a great power. It should not be part of an American game because that is disadvantageous for India. It's disadvantageous for a multipolar world. It's disadvantageous for stability. The Quad is an American game, and India is too great a country to play an American game. Now I think everyone sees, I've been saying it for a long time, and friends in India didn't quite believe me, the United States is unstable. It is irresponsible. It's actually dangerous."

Lauding the BRICS for promoting multilateralism, Sachs said,

"I like the BRICS a lot. I think it's extremely important that half the world has come together to say, 'We want multilateralism. We want multipolarity. We don't want to be bossed around by the United States. We want just a normal world because the BRICS is actually behaving very responsibly.' India has the presidency of the BRICS this year. And the BRICS can send a message to the 85% of the world that is not the U.S. and Europe and a couple of other allies."

The economist further said that India, which is a "very important country", should clearly be among the leaders of global stability. He noted that India is set to become one of the world’s top two economies over the next 25 years, and the United States has no right to boss India around.

He reiterated that the idea of India working with the US, Japan and Australia to “contain China” is not in Delhi’s long-term interest. Instead, Sachs said India’s priority should be strengthening its bilateral relationship with China.

"The idea that the U.S. and India and Japan and Australia are working together to contain China is not in India's interest. India's interest is a bilateral relationship with your counterpart. And I truly believe, by the way, that the issues which have inflamed things between China and India, of course, they date back to 1914 to the McMahon line and so forth. These are solvable issues compared to the real stakes in the world today where India and China have absolutely a common agenda to build a stable, multilateral, multipolar world where the interests of India and China are as aligned as can be," he added.