Jaishankar launches India's UN Security Council bid for 2028-29 in New York

Newyork,UPDATED: Jul 11, 2026 11:04 IST

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will launch India’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2028-29 term at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday. He is also scheduled to meet UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres later that afternoon, according to the UN’s schedule of meetings.

The visit comes as India steps up its push for a larger role in global decision-making and renews its long-standing call for reform of the Security Council. After his UN engagements, Jaishankar will travel to Brussels for the 3rd India-EU Trade and Technology Council meeting, where he will also interact with his EU and Belgian counterparts on July 14 and 15.

Jaishankar is expected to arrive in the US on Saturday after an official visit to Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman from July 5 to 10. India last served on the Security Council for the 2021-22 term. Elections for the 2028-29 term will be held in June next year, when India and Tajikistan will contest the sole seat in the Asia-Pacific Group category.

The election will take place at a time of major geopolitical shifts, with the world dealing with the Ukraine war, the Gaza conflict and the US-Israel war against Iran. In its message for the candidature, India has highlighted “#India4UNSC 2028-29 Peace, Planet, Progress.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the Parliament of Indonesia this week, said the global order is changing rapidly and, in this context, “developing countries like ours are seeking equal participation and a greater role in global affairs. In this evolving global landscape, India firmly believes that reforms in the United Nations Security Council can no longer be delayed.”

India has for years been at the forefront of efforts to reform the 15-member Security Council, including expansion in both its permanent and non-permanent categories, arguing that the body set up in 1945 is not fit for purpose in the 21st century and does not reflect current geopolitical realities. Delhi has repeatedly said it deserves a permanent seat and has warned that reform would border on “failure” if only the non-permanent category is expanded, as that would “fundamentally” not change the decision-making power structure of the five permanent members.

With the reform process moving slowly over the decades, India has also said that the approach of “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” must not be used to block progress. “Status-quoists have tried to use this argument in their favour and thereby, entrench the existing inequities in the Security Council,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, said last month. As India begins its 2028-29 campaign, its message combines the immediate contest for a Council seat with its broader demand for wider reform of the UN’s most powerful body.

With PTI Inputs

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