Fact-Check: Video Falsely Claims That India Has Veto Power in the UNSC

The Right to Veto is a power that is limited to the permanent five nations of the UNSC.

Fact-Check: There are no reports to substantiate that India has received a veto vote at the UNSC.

(Source: The Quint) 

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, a video went viral on social media claiming that India has secured a permanent seat on the UN Security Council with veto power.

• This video outlined the responses of global leaders to India's permanent membership in the UNSC.

• It also mentioned that China bent its stance and signed the paper to grant veto to India.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, the claim is false.

• India has not received the right to veto power at the UNSC. Three nations—the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Russia, and France—have endorsed India's seat on the council.

What we found: At first, we undertook a relevant keyword search using words such as "India, UNSC, Veto Power," but did not find any reports or press releases to support the claim.

• We also went onto the websites of the UN, Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA) and the Press Information of Bureau (PIB) to check whether any reports corroborating with the claim were published. However, we did not find anything.

• We, then, looked at the voting system of the UNSC.

• In the "Right to Veto" section, it is mentioned that five countries - China, France, the former USSR (now the Russian Federation), the UK and the US - were given special roles in maintaining global peace due to their contributions to the UN creation, which was in the form of the 'Veto'.

What is veto?: The permanent members of the UNSC were given a unique voting privilege called the "veto power". The drafters agreed that if any of the five permanent members voted against in the fifteen-member council, the resolution or decision would not be accepted.

Here is the screengrab from the UN's website.

(Source: UN/Screenshot) 

• Apart from the permanent members, the council consists of ten non-permanent members: Algeria (2025), Ecuador (2024), Guyana (2025), Japan (2024), Malta (2024), Mozambique (2024), Republic of Korea (2025), Sierra Leone (2025), Slovenia (2025), and Switzerland (2024).

• Each council member is entitled to one vote. On procedural matters, the council requires a positive vote from at least nine members for a decision to be made.

Here is a screengrab from the website of the UN.

(Source: UN/Screenshot) 

• As of 30 September, four permanent members - the USA, UK, France and Russia have backed India's bid to join the council as a permanent member. All four members have stated the need for change and expansion of the council.

• India has been a non-permanent member of the council eight times, the latest being the tenure between 2021-2022.

Conclusion: A false claim is being spread that India has been granted a veto power in the UNSC.

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