Hyderabad:Billionaire Elon Musk has criticised the existing setup of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling the world's most populous country, India, not having a permanent seat in the grouping as 'absurd'.
Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Musk, while replying to a post of American-Israeli businessman Michael Eisenberg who confronted Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres' post backing Africa for a permanent seat, insisted on the revision of United Nations bodies.
Elon, in his X post, wrote: "At some point, there needs to be a revision of the UN bodies. The 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."
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also made an impassioned plea for the UN to reflect today's world. "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 and rebuild trust," Guterres said in a social media post, earlier.
The Security Council is the body of the United Nations responsible for maintaining international peace and security. It comprises 15 members, with five permanent members, namely the United States, United Kingdom, China, France and Russia. These nations have veto power. The 10 non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
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 grouping of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan who back each other seeking permanent membership of the UNSC.
Earlier, emphasising growing global support for India's permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "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," the EAM said on a question regarding a permanent seat for India at the UNSC.
