India not sitting as a permanent member of the UN Security Council is "not good for us" only but also not good for the global body and its transformation is "overdue", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here on Wednesday.
"I was serious when I said I'm working on it," Mr Jaishankar said.
He was responding to a question on how long it will take for India to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Mr Jaishankar was in a conversation with Columbia University Professor and Former Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya at the Raj Centre at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
"It's obviously a very hard task because at the end of the day, if you say what is a definition of our global order. The five permanent members are a very crucial definition of what the global order is about. So it's a very fundamental, very deep transformation that we are seeking.
"We believe that transformation is overdue, because the UN is a product that was devised eighty years ago. And 80 years ago by any standards of human creativity is a long time ago. The number of independent countries have quadrupled in that period," Mr Jaishankar said, adding that there are big parts of the world which are left out.
He said within a few years, India will be the third largest economy in the world, it will be the most populous society in the world.
"To have such a country not there in the key global councils, obviously, it's not good for us, but I would also urge it's not good for the global Council in question," Mr Jaishankar said.
"I do believe that with each passing year, I sense in the world a greater and greater support for India to be there because we do command today the confidence and trust of very large parts of the world. I do not want to compare it with the current P5. But I would at least say a lot of countries perhaps think that we speak for them with a high degree of empathy and accuracy," he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
"Neighbours Dependent On Each Other": S Jaishankar On Bangladesh Ties S Jaishankar Speaks To NDTV As Modi Government 3.0 Completes 100 Days: Highlights "Life Is Not Khata-Khat ...": S Jaishankar's Swipe At Rahul Gandhi Arvind Kejriwal Resigns After Choosing Atishi As His Replacement Video: Leopard Spotted Crossing Road In Bengaluru's Electronic City AAP Asks Its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal To Quit Over Atishi Remarks "We Will Not Spare You": Nitin Gadkari Warns Contractors Over Poor Roads Kangana Ranaut Says Sold Mumbai Property After 'Emergency' Postponed China Landlord Tries To Evict Cancer-Stricken Tenant Over Property Value Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.