UN Secretary-General António Guterres says that the possibility of expanding the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is now a serious topic of discussion.
However, the question of the new permanent members being granted veto right seems unrealistic to him.
"So, I think that there is now space for a much more serious discussion in relation to Security Council reform. I think that the possibility of enlarging the Security Council is now seriously on the table. I'm still not optimistic about the right of veto," the UN chief said.
The news comes shortly after Guterres shared a tweet saying that the majority of UN member states recognize the need to reform the UNSC so that it would finally "reflect today's geopolitical realities".
India assumed presidency of the UNSC for the month of December, already having held a number of events on the multilateral reforms.
"The world is not the same as it was 77 years ago. The 193 member states of the United Nations are more than triple the 55 member states it had in 1945. However, the composition of the Security Council, responsible for global peace and security, was last fixed in 1965 and is far from reflecting the true diversity of the wider membership of the United Nations," a circular note issued last week by the Indian diplomats, said.
India has consistently advocated reform of the United Nations and its main bodies, with one of its key demands to be granted a permanent seat in the Security Council. The country's bid for a permanent seat on the UNSC was supported by four of the five permanent members - namely Russia, the US, UK and France - leaving only China not supporting the move.