Nordic countries back India’s bid for UNSC permanent membership

Nordic countries have backed India’s bid for permanent membership in a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council, terming New Delhi as a “strong candidate” for the world body’s top organ.

 In a joint statement, issued late last night here after the first Indo-Nordic Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his counterparts from the five Nordic countries — Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland — reaffirmed their support for the UN and the Secretary-General’s reform efforts to ensure the world body is more accountable and effective to the realities of the 21st century.

Modi, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Finnish Premier Juha Sipila, Iceland Premier Katrin Jakobsdottir, Norwegian Premier Erna Solberg and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven participated at the Summit titled ‘India-Nordic Summit:Shared Values, Mutual Prosperity’.

They also reaffirmed their full commitment to implementing the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development as well as the ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“The Nordic countries agree that India is a strong candidate for a permanent seat in a reformed Security Council expanded with both permanent and non-permanent members,” the joint statement said.

The Nordic countries and India reaffirmed the need for reform of the UN Security Council, including its expansion in both permanent and non-permanent seats to make it more representative, accountable, effective and responsive to the realities of the 21st century.