The world needs India’s perspective on the challenges it faces and the country should get a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, former UK prime minister David Cameron has said.
Speaking at the NDTV World Summit on Monday, Lord David Cameron said the world needs strong economic growth, more democracy and a green transition to deal with climate change and India is a shining example of all of those things.
Mr Cameron’s session at the Summit was after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s keynote speech and the former UK prime minister began by commenting on that.
“It was great to hear PM Modi’s speech. To have that energy level at the start of your third term is truly impressive… I made it into a second term (as UK prime minister) but since then we have had quite a number of prime ministers. We have not had anyone having three terms since Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher before him. It’s very impressive because it means you have the ability to get real change, real things done in a very consistent way, which is what we are seeing in India,” he said.
On the India Century, Mr Cameron said there is a need for a reset because the world has changed “hugely” since the institutions were set up after the Second World War.
“You see the rise of India, which will probably become the world’s largest economy at some stage in this century. So, obviously, we need a reset and countries like India should be at its heart,” he said.
To a question on his statement from 2015 that India should have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, Mr Cameron said that should be India’s right.
“We do need reform of the United Nations Security Council and I made this argument as far back as 2005. When I became leader of the Conservative Party, India was the first country I visited outside Europe. It was the first country I visited outside Europe when I became prime minister in 2010. I like to think that I was an early believer in the Indian Century. Obviously, a permanent seat on the Security Council should be India’s right in this changed world,” he emphasised.
Stating that changing these institutions would take a long time, the former UK prime minister said it was good to see India take its place in institutions like the Quad and the G20. He also pointed out that the G7 regularly invites India to attend, almost as a standing member.
