Viral claims circulating on social media about India being granted permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with veto power are false.
According to the official UN website, India is not yet a permanent member of the UNSC and does not hold veto power.
On September 23, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the 'Summit of the Future' at the UN General Assembly in New York. In his speech, he addressed the need for global peace, development, and reforms in international institutions. He also mentioned that granting permanent G20 membership to the African Union at the New Delhi Summit was a significant step in this direction.
However, following this, some social media users are falsely claiming that India has gained permanent membership in the UNSC with veto power.
Archive link.
Archive link.
Archived Facebook link.
Fact-check
BOOM checked the official UN website to verify if India is a permanent member of the UN Security Council or holds veto power. Our findings confirm that India is not a permanent member and does not have veto power.
The UN Security Council is made up of 15 members: five permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and ten non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The current non-permanent members are Algeria (2025), Ecuador (2024), Guyana (2025), Japan (2024), Malta (2024), Mozambique (2024), South Korea (2025), Sierra Leone (2025), Slovenia (2025), and Switzerland (2024).
Notably, the US, France and the UK have endorsed the permanent inclusion of India in the UNSC.
The veto and its significance
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council—China, the US, the UK, France, and Russia—have a special power called the "right to veto." This means they can forbid or block any proposal or decision made in the Security Council. It was agreed that if any one of these five countries votes "no" on a decision, it will not be approved, even if the other members support it.
According to the Security Council, all of these permanent members have used their veto power at different times. However, if a permanent member doesn’t fully agree with a proposal but doesn’t want to block it, they can choose to abstain (not vote). In that case, the proposal can still pass if at least nine other members vote in favour.