No Veto, No Equality: India Warns Against “Second-Class” Permanent Seats in UNSC Reform

From veto rights to a 2028-29 non-permanent seat contest with Tajikistan: India’s UN Security Council push explained

October 27, 2026

UNSC reform without the veto? India says it wouldn’t change how the P5 decide

Ambassador Harish tells the UN General Assembly that reform adding only non-permanent seats would border on failure

India has warned that any Security Council reform that adds new permanent members without the veto would, in practice, give them lesser status and leave the current five powers in charge of decisions.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, set out the position on Monday at the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) plenary in the General Assembly, during the cluster debate on the question of the veto. He said that as long as the veto exists, all permanent members of a reformed Council must hold it, adding that fairness and justice demand equal rights and responsibilities for every permanent member.

Describing India’s stand as principled and well known, Harish said a reform that creates another category of long-term members without the veto would make them “second-class” members and would not alter how the P5 make decisions.

The Council has 15 members. China, France, Russia, the UK and the US are the five permanent members with veto power, and ten non-permanent members serve two-year terms.

India has long argued for expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. It has warned that reform focused only on adding non-permanent seats would amount to failure. New Delhi says the Council, set up in 1945, no longer reflects present-day geopolitical realities, and that India deserves a permanent seat.

Separately, India is seeking a non-permanent seat for 2028-29. The election is scheduled for June next year, when India and Tajikistan will contest the single seat reserved for the Asia-Pacific Group. India last served on the Council in 2021-22, its eighth term, after earlier stints in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92 and 2011-12.

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