In a significant development, India was elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member from the Asia-Pacific category for a two-year term on Wednesday night.
According to the reports, India received overwhelming support as it was elected unopposed as one of the non-permanent members of the UNSC after winning 184 votes in the 193-member General Assembly. The minimum requirement to get elected was 128 votes.
“”I am truly delighted that India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2021-22. We have received overwhelming support and we deeply humbled by the tremendous confidence that the member states of the United Nations have reposed in India,” TS Tirumurti, the Indian permanent representative to the UN said in a video-recorded message.
https://twitter.com/IndiaUNNewYork/status/1273346981650456576?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHe further added, “India will become a member of the United Nations Security Council at a critical juncture and we are confident than in the COVID- and the post-COVID world India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.”
India wins its eighth term, to begin its term from 2021
India will begin its two-year term on January 1, 2021. This is the eighth time that India will sit at the UN high-table, which comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members.
Earlier, India had served seven times earlier as a non-permanent member of the UNSC in 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and 2011-2012.
Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the UNSC elections held on Wednesday.
India was endorsed by Asia-Pacific group
Last year, all the countries in the Asia-Pacific Group at the United Nations had unanimously supported India for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for a two-year term in 2021-22.
The Asia-Pacific Group consists of 55 members states, who was to nominate one of its members for the June 2020 elections to a non-permanent seat on the UNSC. The endorsed members need the vote of two-thirds of the 193 UN General Assembly members to win a non-permanent seat on the UNSC.
The Council is composed of 15 Members, with five nations, USA, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom being permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.