'India joins UNSC at a critical juncture': Envoy Tirumurti reasons 'overwhelming support'

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador TS Tirumurti, on Wednesday said that India's election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was a result of PM Modi's global leadership and a strong led by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. India was the only country from the Asia-Pacific Group and won the election unopposed. 

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Ambassador thanks Modi, Jaishankar

In a message, Ambassador Tirumurti said, "I am truly delighted that India has been elected as the non-permanent member of the United Nations for 2021-2022. We have received overwhelming support and I am deeply humbled by the tremendous confidence which the member states of the United Nations have reposed in India. Our election to the security council is a testament to Prime Minister Modi's vision and his inspiring global leadership, particularly in the time of COIVD-19."

"The outcome is a reflection of the strong campaign led by honorable Minister of External Affairs Dr. S Jaishankar. I also thank the honorable Minister of State for External Affairs, the Foreign Secretary, my own predecessor, team MEA, and all the missions abroad and of course colleagues in the permanent mission of India in New York, who have worked very hard for this day. India will become a member of the Security Council at a critical juncture and we are confident that in the COVID and the post COVID world, India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system."

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Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections. There were 192 Member States present for voting and the 2/3 required majority was 128. Canada lost the elections. 

India will sit in the most powerful UN organ, for two years beginning on January 1, along with the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK, and the US as well as non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

Previously, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Council for the years 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992, and most recently in 2011-2012.

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India has been actively pursuing a permanent membership in the UN Security Council for years and has received support from four of the five permanent members. Barring China, the other permanent members of the Security Council have backed India to join as a permanent member, including two successive US governments. 

On June 5, the Ministry of External Affairs released the brochure which outlined India's priorities to secure a seat. "Ten years since we were last elected to the Security Council, we are facing four very different challenges to international peace and security – the normal process of international governance has been at an increasing strain as frictions have increased, traditional and non-traditional security challenges continue to grow unchecked - terrorism is the most egregious of such examples. Global institutions remain unreformed and under representative, they are therefore less able to deliver, the COVID-19 pandemic and its grave economic repercussions will test the world like never before," he said.

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