Biden reiterates support for India's permanent seat at UN Security Council

The United States President Joe Biden has reiterated US support for India becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), The Economic Times (ET) has reported. Biden held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, September 8, ahead of the official commencement of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

Biden also welcomed India's candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29.

PM Modi and US President Biden highlighted the need to strengthen and reform the multilateral organisations to represent the realities of the modern-day world better. The leaders underlined the need to expand permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council, a White House statement said.

Previously, in June, Biden had spoken about India's inclusion in the UNSC as a permanent member. The leaders also reaffirmed their support towards building resilient global semiconductor supply chains, the report said.

The White House statement said that the leaders expressed satisfaction about the ongoing implementation of announcements made in June 2023 by US companies such as Micron, LAM Research, and Applied Materials.

Apart from this, President Biden also congratulated PM Modi on Chandrayaan-3's historic landing on the South Pole of the Moon, along with the successful launch of India's first solar mission, Aditya-L1.

The bilateral talks happened at PM Modi's official residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi. The two leaders discussed a range of issues focussing on strengthening bilateral relations.

India is among the strongest contenders for permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Currently, the UNSC has five permanent and 10 non-permanent members. The non-permanent members are elected for a two-year term by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, the US, China, and France. Permanent members have the power to veto any resolution presented at the United Nations Security Council.

Besides India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan have also demanded their inclusion as permanent members of the UNSC.