Keir Starmer calls on India for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council

Open Editor’s Digest for free

Rula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Sir Keir Starmer reiterated the UK’s support for giving India a permanent place in the UN Security Council, as the British Prime Minister met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Mumbai.

India has been elected to the council eight times, most recently from 2021 to 2022, but has demanded a permanent role given its population of 1.4 billion and rapidly growing economic influence.

Speaking at the governor’s residence in Mumbai, Starmer – who is on a two-day trade visit to the city – congratulated India on its growing global power and supported its demand for a place in the United Nations.

“We sit together in the Commonwealth, the G20, and we want to see India take its rightful place in the UN Security Council as well,” he added.

The United Kingdom, United States, China, France, and Russia are the five permanent members of the Security Council. It supported all except China IndiaBid for a permanent seat. Ten non-permanent members are elected every two years.

India has been demanding reforms in the UN Security Council – which decides the organisation’s response to conflicts – for years. Last month, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar raised the issue again at the UN General Assembly, saying the UN’s “resistance to reform” was key to “eroding its credibility.”

In 2014, Britain said it supported a permanent seat on the Security Council for India, as well as Brazil, Germany and Japan, and permanent representation for Africa.

London’s endorsement of permanent membership in the UN Security Council creates an enticement for New Delhi to resolve its decades-long dispute with Pakistan, among other countries, over the fate of the Himalayan state of Kashmir. India and Pakistan fought their first war over control of Kashmir in 1948, less than a year after the partition that led to the independence of the two countries.

Starmer said that during Thursday’s meeting he and Modi discussed the need for a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine” as well as “abandoning dependence on fossil fuels.”

US President Donald Trump is putting political pressure on India to stop buying oil from Russia, something that Modi, who describes himself as a “friend” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has largely resisted.

By contrast, Starmer has moved cautiously on the issue, instead emphasizing only Britain’s strong support for it Ukraine Since Russia invaded in 2022.

When reporters asked him before the meeting whether he would suggest Modi stop buying Putin’s oil, the Prime Minister refused to answer the question directly.

He said: “We are one of the leading countries in the coalition of the willing, which brings together allies in order to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire if it is reached.” “And we have taken really effective sanctions regarding the Shadow Fleet in particular.”

Downing Street later said that the Prime Minister raised the issue of India’s purchase of Russian oil during the meeting with Modi, but did not elaborate on the details of the conversation.

The comments are part of a pragmatic approach to international diplomacy by Starmer, who has stressed the importance of global trade to help lift the UK out of its economic distress.

Starmer brought 126 business figures with him on the trip – the largest British delegation ever – to seek to highlight this message.

This visit is the Prime Minister’s first trip to India and aims to send a message to British companies that they should benefit from the trade agreement between the United Kingdom and India that Starmer and Modi signed in London in July.

The British Ministry of Defense on Tuesday announced a £350 million deal to supply the Indian Army with British missiles produced by defense electronics group Thales.