Russia backs India's bid for permanent seat on United Nations Security Council

Russia has backed India’s candidature for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, saying any reform of the body should expand representation from Asia, Africa and Latin America, rather than add seats for Western countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made the remarks in his address to the UN General Assembly.

“Our principled approach is the following: UN Security Council reform cannot involve any additional seats being allocated to Western countries, especially to Germany and Japan, who are now on the path to militarism and revanchism,” Lavov said.


“We are in favour of broadening the representation of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We support Brazil's and India's candidatures for a permanent seat, and at the same time, I wish to emphasise this: we must satisfy the interests of the African continent,” he said.

Lavrov said Russia was working with its allies and strategic partners, including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Union, to address global challenges.

“Russia is trying to fix the situation in the world, working together with its allies and strategic partners: the BRICS, the SCO, and the Eurasian Economic Union,” he said.

He also said the UN should play a central role in discussions on international information security.

“We are promoting an agenda which we can all get behind- a unifying agenda, concrete ideas and projects. Today, what's coming to the fore is the topic of international information security. Clearly, the UN should play a central role in these discussions, not other narrow fora,” Lavrov said.