India's permanent UNSC seat row: ‘Need for reform to UN institutions’ says US after Elon Musk's remarks

The Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Vedant Patel, said during a press briefing on Wednesday, April 17, that the US has offered support for reforms to United Nations institutions, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Earlier this year, Elon Musk made a statement regarding India's lack of a permanent seat at the UNSC, calling it ‘absurd’. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the Tesla chief said, “At some point, there needs to be a revision of the UN bodies. Problem is that those with excess power don't want to give it up.”

In the post, Musk further said, “India not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd. Africa collectively should also have a permanent seat imo.”

Also read: UN Security Council: ‘India not having a permanent seat is...’, says Elon Musk

Over the SpaceX CEO's remarks, Vedant Patel said, “The President has spoken about this before in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, and the Secretary has alluded to this as well.”

He also expressed US support for reforms to the UN institution on behalf of the Security Council to make it more reflective of the 21st-century world.  Vedant Patel added, “I don't have any specifics to offer on what those steps are, but certainly, we recognise that there is a need for reform, but I will leave it at that for now.”

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Composition of United Nations Security Council

The UNSC is composed of 15 member states, including five permanent members with veto power and ten non-permanent members elected for a two-year term. India's quest for a permanent seat on the Security Council gained momentum recently, with the support of the international community, as the nation seeks to represent the interests of the developing world.

Also read: India gets support from 4 out of 5 UNSC member nations for permanent seat

China, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States are among the five permanent members of the UNSC. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its election manifesto (Sankalp Patra) for the Lok Sabha elections, promised to seek permanent membership for the country in the United Nations Security Council.

(With ANI inputs)