Jaishankar to launch campaign for India’s non-permanent 2028-29 UNSC seat as UN politics heats up

India on July 13 will launch the official campaign for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council during 2028-29. According to a press note by the Ministry of External Affairs, the launch will be made by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who is currently travelling in the Gulf region and will reach New York city on July 10 for the official ceremony that will be crucial from the point of view of India’s leadership position in the Global South.

The bid for the non-permanent seat at the UNSC comes at a time when the world is witnessing several disruptive events such as the crisis in the Gulf following the U.S.-Israel war on Iran that has disrupted energy and fertilizer trade with much of the world, including the Global South. The bid will also require substantial diplomatic mobilisation by India as Tajikistan will be the other candidate for the seat meant for the Asia-Pacific region. While India has received support from countries such as Fiji, United States, Austria and Sri Lanka, it will have to do considerable diplomatic heavy lifting as Tajikistan has already secured the support of the OIC bloc that consists of 57 member-states of the United Nations. That apart, both countries are members of the SCO that will hold the next summit meeting in Kyrgyzstan, adding a special significance to the summit from the point of view of UNSC ambitions of India and Tajikistan.

Evolving equation

Mr. Jaishankar has been to various countries over the past months with an eye to the evolving equation at the United Nations because of India’s plans for the 2028-29 UNSC non-permanent membership. This week he is visiting Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, having visited Qatar during the weekend. He will reach New York city for extensive consultations with India’s partners at the UN. While India has been advocating a reform at the UNSC and also has been championing the needs of the Global South, recent trends however have not gone according to the plans. Earlier in May, India postponed the India-Africa Forum Summit that was to be held during May 28-31 citing the Ebola outbreak in multiple countries in Africa.

In that backdrop India has intensified consultation as evident in the frequent travel schedule of Mr. Jaishankar who has reached out to the Caribbean region recently. The UN’s political season heated up ahead of the upcoming General Assembly with the June 2026 contest when Kyrgyzstan defeated Philippines for the 2027-28 stint at the UNSC with 142 UN members supporting Kyrgyzstan and 49 supporting Philippines. It will be the first stint of Kyrgyzstan at the UNSC since it joined the UN in 1992 after the dissolution of the USSR. The contests at the UNSC are also indicative of the emerging global dynamics in the context of the conflicts in West Asia and the Ukraine crisis.