US official reacts to Elon Musk's remark on India's permanent UNSC seat

The United States has repeated its stance on reforms in the United Nations including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with regards to India's permanent seat at the UNSC, an issue raised by Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this year.

While responding to a question about Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s question on India lacking of a permanent seat at the UNSC, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel on Wednesday said that the US has offered support for reforms to United Nations institutions, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The US offered its support for reforms to the United Nations' institutions “to make it reflective of the 21st-century world."

"The President has spoken about this before in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, and the Secretary has alluded to this as well. We certainly support reforms to the UN institution, including the Security Council, to make it reflective of the 21st-century world that we live in. I don’t have any specifics to offer on what those steps are, but certainly, we recognise that there is a need for reform, but I will leave it at that for now," Patel told the media.

Musk had earlier called the absence of India as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) “absurd.”

The billionaire said that the current structure of the UNSC does not adequately quite represent the world's most populous nations and called for a reform.

"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 had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

India has long wanted a permanent seat on the Security Council to better represent the interests of the developing world, which is now gaining momentum with support from the international community.

In September 2023, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, US President Joe Biden supported India's bid to the UNSC.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is composed of 15 member states, including five permanent members with veto power and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms. The five permanent members of the UNSC include China, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States. The non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are elected for 2-year terms by the UNGA.

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its manifesto titled “Sankalp Patra”, vowed to pursue permanent membership for the country in the United Nations Security Council.

In its manifesto, the BJP stated, “We are committed to seeking permanent membership in the UN Security Council to elevate Bharat's position in global decision-making.”

In January this year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar talked about the growing global support for India's permanent membership at the UNSC and said that sometimes things are not given generously, and one has to seize them.