US reacts to Elon Musk's X post on India's permanent UNSC seat

While responding to a journalist's question about Elon Musk’s question on India lacking a permanent seat at the UNSC, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the United States has offered support for reforms to United Nations (UN) institutions, including the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"The President has spoken about this before in his remarks to the UN General Assembly, and the Secretary has alluded to this as well. We certainly support reforms to the UN institution, including the Security Council, to make it reflective of the 21st-century world that we live in," Vedant Patel said.

"I don't have any specifics to offer on what those steps are, but certainly, we recognise that there is a need for reform, but I will leave it at that for now," he added.

Earlier in January, the Tesla CEO called the absence of India as a permanent member of the UNSC "absurd", and said that the current structure of the UNSC does not adequately represent the world's most populous nations and called for an overhaul.

On January 21 this year, Elon Musk, in his post on X (formerly Twitter), said, "At some point, there needs to be a revision of the UN bodies. Problem is that those with excess power don’t want to give it up. India not having a permanent seat on the Security Council, despite being the most populous country on Earth, is absurd."

In his post, Musk also advocated that Africa collectively should have a permanent membership in the top UN body.

India has been eyeing a permanent seat at the UNSC table for years.

Earlier in September last year, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, US President Joe Biden supported India's bid to the UNSC.