'We believe India, Brazil and African countries should be represented in UNSC': Russian diplomat Lavrov

Moscow: Russia's top diplomat has said that his country believes that India, Brazil and African countries should be represented in the UN Security Council on a permanent basis to ensure the representativeness of the global majority, state-owned TASS news agency reported on Sunday.

"Countries such as India, Brazil, as well as representatives of Africa should have been on a permanent basis in the Security Council for a long time. This is necessary to ensure representativeness, representation of the global majority," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told aif.ru. in an interview, TASS reported.

India has been at the forefront of years-long efforts calling for reform of the Security Council, including expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent categories, saying the 15-nation Council, founded in 1945, is not fit for purpose in the 21st Century and does not reflect contemporary geo-political realities. Delhi has underscored that it deserves a permanent seat at the horse-shoe table.

Last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron in backing India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

India last sat at the UN high table as a non-permanent member in 2021-22. There has been a growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality.