US Economist Jeffrey Sachs Backs India For Permanent UNSC Seat, Urges China To Support Bid

US economist Jeffrey Sachs has backed India's bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, saying “no country has a stronger claim”, days after BRICS leaders supported New Delhi's aspirations for a greater role in the UN and its most powerful body.

Sachs said India should “absolutely” be made a permanent member of the Security Council, arguing that the country's population, economy and growing global influence strengthened its case for representation.

What Did Jeffrey Sachs Say About India's UNSC Bid?

Sachs is an American economist and professor at Columbia University who has worked extensively on sustainable development and international economic policy.

Sachs told HT that India should “absolutely” be a permanent member and argued that no country had a stronger claim. He also linked the case to India's size and importance in the international system.

"India has the strongest claim, should absolutely be a member of security council. Think of all countries in the world, there is no country other than India that has such a strong claim as the sixth permanent member of the UN Security Council," he said in an interview with PTI.

“India’s 1.5 billion people. It’s the most populous nation. It’s a superpower. It’s the world’s third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity. It is a rapidly growing economy,” he added.

Sachs also noted the recent BRICS summit in Delhi and India’s presidency of the G20. “It’s extremely deft at diplomacy, as we just saw in the BRICS summit, and as we saw when India chaired the G20 as well,” he said. “So to my mind, to build that multilateralism, India absolutely should be a member of the UN Security Council,” Sachs said.

What Did BRICS Say About India's UNSC Aspirations?

Sachs' comment is particularly timely because the The New Delhi Declaration called for comprehensive UN reform, including the Security Council, to make it more democratic, representative, effective and efficient. It also reiterated support for the aspirations of Brazil and India to play a greater role in the UN, including its Security Council.

India has long sought permanent membership of an expanded Security Council. The current body has 15 members, including five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK and the US — which have veto powers.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also backed expansion of the Security Council at the BRICS Summit, saying global institutions must reflect today's economic, demographic and geopolitical realities rather than those of 1945.

BRICS backed India's aspirations for a greater role in the UN, including the Security Council. Whereas Sachs explicitly backed permanent membership.