- Sunday, April 20, 2025
The entrepreneur also suggested that Africa collectively should have a permanent membership in the council.
By: Shubham Ghosh
HE is known more for his takes in the business sector, including the entry of Tesla in the Indian market but US entrepreneur Elon Musk has now expressed a viewpoint on international politics, saying that the absence of India in the United Nations (UN) Security Council is “absurd”.
Musk, the world’s richest person, on Sunday (21) highlighted the issue of revision of the UN bodies saying nations with excess power don’t want to give it up. He also suggested that Africa collectively should have a permanent membership in the Security Council.
Taking to X, Musk said, “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. Africa collectively should also have a permanent seat imo.”
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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.
Africa collectively should…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2024
On Sunday, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres raised the issue of reforms of the UN Security Council, something that various quarters have been pointing out, saying institutions today must reflect the current world and not what it was 80 years ago. He also questioned in favour of Africa having a permanent membership of the council, which is the UN’s most powerful body with five permanent members in the US, UK, France, Russia and China — all possessing the veto power.
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“How can we accept that Africa still lacks a single Permanent Member in the Security Council? Institutions must reflect today’s world, not that of 80 years ago. September’s Summit of the Future will be an opportunity to consider global governance reforms & re-build trust” Guterres had said in a post on Sunday.
The Summit of the Future is a high-level event that will bring together world leaders to forge a new international consensus on delivering a better present and safeguarding the future.
US-Israeli businessman Michael Eisenberg responded to Guterres’s post, asking why India is not there in the council either.
“And what about India? Better yet is to dismantle the @UN and build something new with real leadership,” he said. Musk’s post was in response to Eisenberg who he follows on X.
And what about India? ??
Better yet is to dismantle the @UN and build something new with real leadership. https://t.co/EYpyooHaH4
— Michael Eisenberg (@mikeeisenberg) January 21, 2024
India, which is the most populous nation in the world with over 1.4 billion people, has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council for eight terms, totalling 16 years. It has been seeking its admission in the Security Council and is a part of the G4 group that also comprises Brazil, Germany and Japan. The members of the group back each other’s bid to gain a permanent membership. India’s quest has been backed by four permanent members — US, UK, France and Russia but China has not supported.
India has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for eight terms (16 years).
The country is a member of the G4, a group of nations that back each other to seek permanent membership of the UNSC. The countries advocate for reform in the UNSC.
Emphasising on growing global support for India’s permanent membership at the Security Council, Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has said in the past that sometimes things are not given generously and one has to seize it.
“With each passing year, the feeling in the world is that India should be there, and I can feel that support…The world does not give things easily and generously; sometimes you have to take them,” he said on a question regarding a permanent seat for India at the UNSC.
In September last year, Jaishankar expressed concern that the United Nations’ reluctance to reform its structure would render the organization “anachronistic,” prompting people to seek solutions elsewhere. He made an analogy by likening the situation to passengers on a bus, drawing an “injudicious” reference to the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had noted, “When the UN was established, the world at that time was completely different from today. At that time there were 51 founding members in the UN. Today the number of countries included in the UN is around 200. Despite this, the permanent members in UNSC are still the same.”
