India will get UN Security Council seat, but not easily, says External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar

India's External Affairs Minister expresses confidence in India's chances of getting a permanent seat at the UN Security Council despite opposition from other countries.

Perth

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said on February 10 that he was confident that India will get a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, but it won't be easy as there are a lot of countries who want to "block us".

Dr. Jaishankar, who is here to attend the two-day Indian Ocean Conference, said he sees the change as to how differently the world looks at India now as he goes around the world.

"We will get there. I am 100% certain we will get there. But I will also tell you that honestly, we will not get it easily because the world is full of competition," he said in response to a question at an interaction with the Indian community in Perth.

“Some will try to block us, will make that passage difficult or put some kind of obstacles, some kind of argument in the way,” he said, without naming any country. “But I’m confident we will get there and I’m more confident today than I was five years ago or 10 years ago,” he added.

"As I go around the world, often I hear this from people that 'look, you can say things we can't say. We trust you to say this as we have our constraints'," he said, highlighting how India has already just naturally put across a position which is a collective position for all of them.

He said that there were many issues where the interests of many were involved but the global debate was dominated by a few. "It could be about the energy crisis, a lot of countries have a debt situation today. It could be about culture and heritage as everybody doesn't want to be overwhelmed by others' cultures. In a sense, today India is trusted and well-regarded. there are a lot of countries who want to see us there," Dr. Jaishankar said.