External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said India has all the credentials to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. “I am confident that if not this time then next time, India would become a permanent member of the Security Council,” she said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Swaraj pointed out that while four permanent members – United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia – have already expressed their support for India’s inclusion, China has not publicly opposed the idea. Besides, India is also pitching reforms in the Security Council.

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She added that India was hoping to get the same rights, including the power to veto a decision, as the other permanent members. “We don’t want any discrimination between old and new members. We don’t want two classes – that there is a first class and a second class of permanent members. This should make it clear that India wants the same responsibilities, prerogatives and obligations as the current permanent members,” she added, according to PTI. Swaraj, however, said the US and UK had opposed the extension of veto power to the new members.

Last month, India, Brazil, Japan and Germany had offered to temporarily give up their veto powers in exchange for a permanent membership to the Security Council. “The issue of veto is important, but we should not allow it to have a veto over the process of council reform itself,” India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Syed Akbaruddin had said at the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Council Reforms.

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and United States have been permanent members of the council since it was formed in 1945. The UN General Assembly elects the remaining 10 members for two-year terms. For years, China and Pakistan have appeared to hinder India’s application for permanent membership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly pushed for permanent membership to the UNSC, saying it was “India’s right”.