India, along with Ireland, Mexico and Norway was elected as non-permanent member of the powerful United Nation Security Council for a two-year term on Wednesday.

India garnered 184 votes from total 192 members.

The 15-member Security Council has five permanent members – the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China – and 10 non-permanent.

India will sit in the most powerful United Nation organ, for two years starting on January 1, 2021 along with the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the US as well as non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.

The two-year terms of Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia, and South Africa are ending this year.

To be elected to the Council, candidate countries need a two-thirds majority of ballots of Member States that are present and voting in the United Nation Assembly.

India was a candidate for a non-permanent seat from the Asia-Pacific category for the 2021-22 term. Its victory was a given since it was the sole candidate competing for the lone seat from the grouping.

New Delhi’s candidature was unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan, in June last year.

Turkish diplomat and politician Volkan Bozkir, was elected as President of the 75th session of the United Nation General Assembly. He was the endorsed candidate from among the Western European and other States.

The elections started at 9am Wednesday and unlike previous years, this year presence in the United Nation General Assembly hall was sparse due to CoronaVirus related guidelines and restrictions. United Nation diplomats, staff and other personnel arrived at the General Assembly hall wearing masks and immediately left the venue after casting their ballots.

President of the United Nation General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande oversaw the proceedings in the General Assembly Hall and the tellers also observed the whole process.

Each year the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term. The 10 non-permanent seats are distributed on a regional basis as follows: five for African and Asian Counties; one for Eastern European Countries; two for the Latin American and Caribbean States; and two for Western European and other States. To be elected to the Council, candidate countries need a two-thirds majority of ballots of Member States that are present and voting in the Assembly.

“India’s journey with the United Nations is quite a remarkable one. As a founding member of the United Nations, India’s contribution to implementing the goals of the United Nations Charter and to the evolution of United Nation specialized agencies and programs has been substantial. In many ways, quite extraordinary,” Tirumurti had said in a video message ahead of the elections.

“I’m confident that at a time when we are poised to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and later the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022, India’s presence in the Security Council will help bring to the world our ethos that the world is one family – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” he had said.

Previously, India has been elected as a non-permanent member of the Council for the years 1950-1951, 1967-1968, 1972-1973, 1977-1978, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 and most recently in 2011-2012.

India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st Century.