Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic threw their support behind India’s bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat on Monday, with Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár arguing that India’s standing as a leading Global South nation and rising Indo-Pacific power warrants a place at the UN’s top table.
The endorsement came during the first-ever high-level meeting between the Visegrád Group (V4) — Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia and India, held on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented India at the talks.
Blanár said the V4 countries were united in the view that India, as an emerging Indo-Pacific power representing the Global South, deserves permanent membership on the Security Council.
Jaishankar called the gathering a landmark moment and thanked Blanár for organizing it, describing the discussions as highly productive. He said the two sides had agreed to launch an annual business forum given India’s deepening ties with the European Union and the V4 specifically, along with plans for the foreign ministers to meet on a yearly basis going forward. Beyond that, he noted, the talks touched on expanding cooperation in technology and innovation, renewing India’s long-standing defense ties with the V4 nations, and addressing space collaboration, connectivity, and student and people-to-people exchanges — India has students studying in each of the four countries. He added that the meeting also included a useful exchange of views on major global crises, including the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Gulf, and said he came away very satisfied with how the discussions went.
On the V4’s global significance
Asked about how India views the political weight of the V4 grouping, Jaishankar said New Delhi sees strong value in the relationship, pointing to the four countries’ industrial strength and their capabilities in innovation and technology. He added that how the V4 chooses to organize itself is ultimately up to its members, but that India welcomes the chance to deepen cooperation with the bloc.
Context: India’s Security Council push
India has long pushed for reform of the UN Security Council, including a permanent seat on the body, which currently has five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US alongside 10 non-permanent members serving two-year terms. Jaishankar formally kicked off India’s campaign for a non-permanent Council term covering 2028-29 back in July, even as New Delhi continues to advocate more broadly for structural reform and permanent membership.
