New pitch to make our UNSC bid

Earlier this week, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres asked on X why Africa lacks a single permanent member in the Security Council. To which venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg replied by asking about India. Once Elon Musk followed Eisenberg, saying it is 'absurd' that India is still not a permanent UNSC member despite being the most populous country, we realised that what we were seeing was a new crop, this time of supra-national non-state actors - wealth creators - asking the all-too-valid question. And this questioning of India's outlier status could well be a critical driver that strengthens its claim for the seat.

Over the next decades, India's rising hunger for energy, material resources, goods and services will shape global demand and influence response to existential challenges. This power - a function, among others, of its large population - will drive India's UNSC bid. Most developed countries support India's cause. This will solidify as the world gravitates towards loose bipolarity - Russia-China friendship and US-EU-Japan combine. India's commitment to the principle and practice of democracy and maintaining open societies should further buttress this support.

But with great power comes great responsibility. And this is where India needs to up its game. The propensity to play up its status as a developing country hasn't helped, making it difficult for New Delhi to rally the developing world, particularly in the UN, where the G77 and China are key negotiating groups. To gain the UNSC seat, India must take on global responsibility. Its capacity to engage meaningfully and for mutual benefit with G77 as well as G7 is its strength. New Delhi must leverage it with long-term foreign policy goals and strategic vision.