India wins UNSC non-permanent seat; whooping 184 out of 192 members vote in favour

India said that its overall objective would be reforms in global multilateral institutions.

UNSC -15-member UN Security Council 

New Delhi: India was on Thursday elected by United Nations (UN) member-countries overwhelmingly for a non-permanent seat to the 15-member UN Security Council (UNSC) for a two year-term.

This is the eighth time that India will sit at the UN high-table, which comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s Secretary (West) Vikas Swarup told reporters on Thursday evening at a special virtual briefing that enhancing counter-terrorism measures would be one of India’s main priorities”. He said India would seek “streamlining” of the process of sanctions against terrorists and terror entities, adding that the process of imposing sanctions needs to be de-politicised as there is no justification for any act of terrorism.

The comments are extremely significant as India faces cross-border terrorism from Pakistan. Asked about reported critical comments made by Pakistani officials on India’s candidature, the senior MEA official lashed out at Pakistan, saying it has always tried to raise bilateral issues in a multilateral fora.

Swarup said India had been elected “unopposed”   as it was “the sole candidate for the Asia-Pacific seat. He also thanked the Afghan Government, saying this was because Afghanistan had withdrawn in India’s  favour way back in 2013.

He also said India’s electoral performance on Thursday has been “one of its best-ever” electoral performances at the UN, pointing out that India secured much more than the threshold (minimum number of two-thirds which is 128) to win the election. A whopping 184 out of the total 192 UN member-nations voted for India. This will be India’s eighth term in the UNSC.

Modi thanks global community

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he is “deeply grateful” for the overwhelming support shown by the global community for India’s membership of the United Nations Security Council. India will work with all member countries to promote global peace, security, resilience and equity, he said.

“Deeply grateful for the overwhelming support shown by the global community for India’s membership of the UN Security Council,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.

India will work with all member countries to promote global peace, security, resilience and equity, he said.