January 24, 2024
NEW DELHI – Tesla CEO Elon Musk has called for reforms in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying India not being part of it is “absurd”. The billionaire also batted for a UNSC seat for the African Union.
“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. India not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd,” Musk wrote on ‘X’.
He further added that Africa collectively should also have a place at the UNSC table.
The all-powerful United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has only five permanent members – China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
India has long been eyeing a permanent seat and all the members except for China support India’s bid.
On several occasions, China has used its veto power to block India’s inclusion as a permanent member of the UNSC.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned how UNSC can be a primary organ of a global body when the world’s largest democracy is not a permanent member of it.
“How can we talk of it as a primary organ of a global body when entire continents of Africa and Latin America are ignored? How can it claim to speak for the world when its most populous country, and its largest democracy, is not a permanent member?” the prime minister had said in July last year.