India is a responsible and peace-loving nation with a powerful armed forces firmly under civilian control.

India is a responsible nuclear power with a strong record of non-proliferation. India has contributed significantly to UN peacekeeping operations. India is one of the oldest living civilizations and a perennial and prolific fountainhead of influential culture and spirituality. Several influential opinion leaders in leading newspapers have also advocated permanent membership for India in the UN Security Council: International Herald Tribune: "Clearly, a seat for India would make the body more representative and democratic. With India as a member, the Council would be a more legitimate and thus a more effective body..." -- Robert Wilcox The New York Times: "Sometimes I wish that the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council could be chosen...with a vote by the fans... Then the perm-five would be Russia, China, India, Britain and the United States. That's more like it. India is the world's biggest democracy, the world's largest Hindu nation and the world's second-largest Muslim nation" -- Thomas Friedman Representative Frank Pallone (founder, India Caucus in the US Congress) introduced House Resolution 108 in the United States House of Representatives , supporting a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council on February 26, 2003. Rep. Pallone stated, "I believe it is morally wrong to ignore the voice of over one billion Indian people in security decision-making that affects them, and the rest of the world. India's location, its large population, its history of participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations, and its leadership in the non-alignment movement all justify its bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. All five members of the UN Security Council must realize that having India as a permanent security council member will give the South Asia region a stabilizing force, helping peace efforts in Central Asia and all parts of our increasingly connected world. Even though the geopolitical realities have changed drastically since 1945, when the set-up of the current Council was decided, the Security Council has changed very little during this long period. The winners of Second World War shaped the Charter of the United Nations in their national interests, dividing the veto-power pertinent to the permanent seats amongst themselves.[3] With the enlargement of the United Nations membership and increasing self-confidence among the new members, going hand in hand with processes of decolonization and globalization, old structures and procedures were increasingly challenged

At the present time, the Council does not fully represent the world population, such as developing countries, and anachronistic in character. The impact of actions of the Council is felt, with near total exclusivity by developing countries. Yet they have little influence in its decision-making. This is so despite the fact that more than 150 countries endorsed, at the millennium summit, the need for a reformed council that was more representative. This has in the past and continues to hinder the Council?s ability to tackle threats to international peace and security. In 1965, the membership of the Council was expanded from 11 to 15. There was no change in the number of permanent members. Since then, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Member States of the UN and considerable change in composition of the General Assembly, where overwhelming majority of members are developing countries. The present composition of the Council, particularly the permanent memberscategory, is weighted heavily in favor of industrialized countries. This imbalance must be redressed in an expansion of the Council, by enhancing the representation of developing countries. Obamas support to India. Some of the reasons the U.S. should whole-heartedly to support appointment of Indian as a permanent member include: India has more than a billion people, representing about one sixth the population of the whole world, it is the largest functional and stable democracy in the world . It is a model for the third and post communist worlds. India?s gross domestic product is the 4th highest in the world. It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world as a result of liberalization of trade policies in the last decade. India, with its ancient civilization, rich heritage, deep rooted democratic system and growing economic potential has the credentials to champion the cause of the developing nations which need proper representation in the Council.

India had been one of the few countries, which had participated, in all the military operations the Council had undertaken thus far. Presently, India is ranked as the second largest troop contributor to the UN. It shows strong commitment to the UN Charter, international leadership and contribution to the world peace. India had been the bulwark of the Non-Alignment Movement during the cold war years and continues to be a major force in that sphere. India is and will be a major player of the world in helping the UN? s efforts to eliminate nuclear arms from the face of earth. India has a vast pool of Technicians and Scientists. This could make India a frontier country as the world move more and more towards information age. India is one of the few countries which have made huge strides in the Space technologies. India is strategically situated in the Asian continent. The twenty-first century is expected to be a century of Asians. India could emerge as a buffer for market for other countries against the Chinese, if China decides to assert its influence in future as many fear that it would. Indian army is considered one of the most disciplined army in the world. This will become important to the United Nations and Security Council, as it will be called upon to play a major in role in resolving future conflicts.

India had always been looked upon by the third world to provide a moral leadership in voicing its views. India could emerge as a model for other countries in establishing a secular order. Further, this could act as model in handling diversity in religion, race, caste, language and culture. India can help the UN to work towards the problems of poverty, illiteracy, urban sprawl, natural calamities etc. India being the sufferers of these evils can contribute a great towards formulating a workable approach at the UN on these issues. In summary, the Council?s expansion is essential to make it more representative. The fact of India with over a billion population, representing about one sixth the population of the whole world, not being a permanent member of the Council, seriously undermines the representative nature of the Council. India is well qualified by any objective criteria for permanent membership of the Council. India which joined the UN in 1945 is the third largest and a regular constant contributor of troops to United Nations Peacekeeping missions.[20] The Foreign Policy Magazine states that, "India's international identity has long been shaped by its role in U.N. peacekeeping, with more than 100,000 Indian troops having served in U.N. missions during the past 50 years. Today, India has over 8,500 peacekeepers in the field, more than twice as many as the U.N.'s five big powers combined.[21] India has been elected seven times to the UN Security Council. Most recently India has been elected to serve in UNSC from 2011 to 2012 as it had received 187 of the 190 total votes. [22][23] India is one of the main contributors to the UN regular budget.[24] The country currently has the world's second largest population and is the world's largest liberal democracy. It is also the world's tenth largest economy and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. Currently, India maintains the world's third largest active armed force and is a nuclear weapon state. India is perhaps the only candidate who's bid has been openly backed by all the P5 nations, with China, Russia,United States of America, United Kingdom and France, along with various other nations endorsing the country's aspirations. India was elected to the Security Council as a non-permanent member in 2011, with an overwhelming majority of 98% and only 3 out of the 190 countries voting did not vote for India India's bid for permanent member of UNSC is backed by permanent members namely France,[28] Russia,[29] United Kingdom[30] and United States,[31] although the United States initially opposed India's candidacy on grounds of nuclear proliferation, as India has acquired nuclear weapons and not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The African Union also supports India's candidacy for permanent member It is ironical that India is not a member of the U.N Security Council. The United Nations was set up in 1945 after the Second World War, as an association of sovereign state. India was a British colony then and not a sovereign country, yet it played a pivotal role in the set up of U.N. had India been a sovereign nation then, it would have already been a permanent member similar to the other powerful members. India strongly deservers to be a permanent member of the U.N. Security

Council because of many apparent and weighted reasons. India is the largest democracy of the world with over 1 billion population. Every seventh person in the world is an India. India strategic position in Asia has always played a crucial role in its history. Indias role in strengthening UNs position has always been positive. Indias significant role in peace keeping all over the world is well known. It has been i nstrumental in eradicating apartheid, slavery and colonisation in many Asian and African countries. Its moral support has always been there for the weak, surfing and oppressed humanity. It is a well known fact that Indian forces as the UN peace keepers have performed a wonderful job in many countries including Korea, Somalia, Angola, Shri Lanka, etc. and now there is a great demand that Indian troops should be sent to Iraq to establish and maintain peace there. The Security Council is a very powerful organisation of the UNO and is mainly responsible for maintaining peace in the world. However there is no representative of the third world in it. The UN is already a unique, worldwide institution, with191 member-states and an extensive mandate to secure world peace, safeguard human rights and promote international solidarity. Its leading role in these areas, and its considerable degree of democratic legitimacy, make it an important institution in the implementation of international rules, particularly as economic globalisation increases and the role of transnational corporations grows. It is common knowledge that the United Nations is often unable to exert an effective influence on global economic and political issues of critical importance. This is due to its what may be called as "democracy deficit", which prevents effective multilateralism, a multilateralism that is based on a democratically-evolved global consensus. Therefore, reform and restructuring of the United Nations system can alone provide a crucial link in an expanding chain of efforts to refashion international structures, imbuing them with a greater degree of participatory decisionmaking, so as to make them more representative of contemporary realities. The expansion of the Security Council, in the category of both permanent and non-permanent members, and the inclusion of countries like India as permanent members, would be a first step in the process of making the United Nations a truly representative bodyManmohan Singh . India, after gaining independence from the British in 1947, has made rapid strides forward on the social and economic front. Though it has a long way to go to eradicate poverty and feed millions of hungry citizens, its progress has been reasonably satisfactory. India's role in engaging with other nations has also been praised, and its policy of Non-Alignment during the Cold War and non-interventionism have been well received. it is conventional wisdom that the UN is equipped with extraordinary legitimacy because of its almost universal membership. As the formula goes, the democratic character of the UN is signified by the fact that all states are on equal footing in the UN's General Assembly, no matter how large or small, from China with 1.3 billion inhabitants to Tuvalu with only about 12,000.Democracy deficit Yet, on closer inspection, the situation appears to be rather different.Most countries are tiny dwarfs with regard to population size and economic power. Mathematically it is possible that the 128 smallest countries are able to achieve a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly although they only represent 8.4 percent of the world's population and only 11.3 percent of the world's combined gross domestic product. The one hundred smallest countries that mathematically are able to take majority decisions represent as few as 3.9 percent of the world's population or 6.4 of global gross national product. If the United Nations is to survive, those who represent it must bolster it; those who advocate it must submit to it; and those who believe in it must fight for it Norman Cousins