India has expressed confidence in its candidature for a non‑permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2028‑29 term. The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India’s campaign, launched by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New York, has been well received and that member states will give due consideration to India’s bid.

Jaiswal explained that India announced its candidature on 13 July, with Jaishankar addressing UN members and presenting India’s case. He emphasised that India outlined clear reasons why countries should support its candidature, and reiterated confidence that the campaign will gain broad backing.

Responding to recent remarks from Pakistan regarding Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, the MEA reaffirmed India’s firm position on territorial integrity. Jaiswal declared that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are, and will always remain, an integral part of India.

He recalled the Pahalgam terror attack of 2025, which claimed several innocent lives, describing its barbarity. He stressed that Pakistan lacks credibility to comment on Indian internal matters, given its decades‑long record of sponsoring terrorism and using extremism as an instrument of state policy. He underlined that Pakistan has no locus standi on issues internal to India.

These remarks followed India’s official launch of its UNSC campaign earlier in the week. Jaishankar, speaking at the UN headquarters, highlighted India’s peacekeeping record, its priorities for global governance, and its commitment to multilateralism. He noted that the world faces growing instability, making the role of the UN and the Security Council more critical than ever.

Jaishankar introduced India’s SHANTI vision, standing for Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity. He explained that this principle reflects India’s approach to building a secure, peaceful and equitable world, stressing that peace and prosperity cannot be sustained in fragmented ways and that global order must be respected.

He also highlighted India’s longstanding contribution to UN peacekeeping, noting that nearly 300,000 Indian personnel have served in about 50 missions since the organisation’s inception. At present, India has 4,300 personnel deployed across 10 of the 11 active missions. He pledged that India would continue to advocate for technologically enabled, realistically mandated peacekeeping operations, while championing the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

India’s campaign reflects both its historical role and its vision for the future. As a founding member of the UN, India has consistently supported the Charter’s purposes and contributed to the evolution of specialised programs and agencies. It has also consistently advocated reforms of the Security Council to better represent contemporary realities and the aspirations of the Global South.