Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
India becomes UNSC permanent member, receives veto power.
Fact
No evidence to prove that such a decision has been made.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the 79th UN General Assembly session earlier this week, videos claiming that India has become a permanent member of the UNSC with veto power went viral on social media with users applauding the achievement. Such videos also detailed the alleged process, as well world leaders’ reactions to India’s entering at the UNSC as a permanent member. Newschecker, however, found the claim to be untrue.
Several Facebook and X users claimed that India has been granted permanent membership of the UNSC with veto power.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Newschecker also received the claim on our WhatsApp tipline (+91-9999499044) requesting to be fact checked
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What Is Veto Power?
The Right to veto is a “negative vote” that enables any entity/person to refuse to accept or forbid any action/decision. The United Nations Security Council members with veto power can exercise their right on any resolution/decision, and the same would not be approved.
Fact Check/Verification
A keyword search for “India,’ “UN,” “veto power” and “permanent member” on Google did not yield any credible reports stating that such a status has been granted to India.
We then looked up the official social media handles of the United Nations, and Indian government but did not find any post confirming the same.
Following this, we searched for “UN Veto Power” on Google which led us to the “Voting System” section on the official website of the United Nations. Under the “Right to Veto” segment, it states, “The creators of the United Nations Charter conceived that five countries — China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) [which was succeeded in 1990 by the Russian Federation], the United Kingdom and the United States —, because of their key roles in the establishment of the United Nations, would continue to play important roles in the maintenance of international peace and security.”
Adding, “They were granted the special status of Permanent Member States at the Security Council, along with a special voting power known as the “right to veto”.
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Notably, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) consists of 15 members – five permanent members with veto power (mentioned above), and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
The current non-permanent members of the UNSC are listed below:
- Algeria
- Ecuador
- Guyana
- Japan
- Malta
- Mozambique
- Republic of Korea
- Sierra Leone
- Slovenia
- Switzerland
Though multiple countries, such as the US, the UK and France, have endorsed India’s bid for a permanent seat at the UNSC, there is no credible evidence proving that such a decision has been made by the time of writing this article.
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Conclusion
Hence, the viral claim that India has become a permanent member of the UNSC, and received the veto power was found to be false.
Result: False
Sources
Official Website Of United Nations
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
