India Elected to U.N. Security Council Two Days After Chinese Border Massacre

India was officially elected to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday, two days after China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) engaged its soldiers on their mutual border, reportedly leaving at least 40 people dead.

With 192 Member States present for voting, India received 184 votes as the representative for the Asia Pacific region, easily surpassing the two-thirds required majority of 128. India ran unopposed.

“Member States elect India to the non-permanent seat of the Security Council for the term 2021-22 with overwhelming support. India gets 184 out of the 192 valid votes polled,” tweeted India’s Permanent Mission to the U.N.

India will begin its two-year term in the Security Council from the beginning of 2021, alongside the five permanent members of China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam.

“Deeply grateful for the overwhelming support shown by the global community for India’s membership of the [United Nations Security Council,” tweeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India will work with all member countries to promote global peace, security, resilience, and equity.”

The country of around 1.35 billion people was most recently a member of the UNSC in the years 2011-2012. It has also sat on the council on six other occasions, the first time being in 1950-1951, five years after it was founded.

India’s election to the UNSC comes just days after violent skirmishes between Indian forces and the Chinese military along the Sino-Indian border, which have reportedly led to the massacre of 43 Chinese soldiers. At least 20 Indian soldiers were also killed in the clashes.

There are currently conflicting reports as to who is responsible for initiating the conflict, with both sides blaming the other. Multiple reasons have been cited for the outbreak of violence, including the development of Indian infrastructure in the disputed area of Ladakh, India’s revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir — which is not near Ladakh — and calls across India to boycott Chinese products.

Canada failed in its latest attempt to gain a seat at the table as a representative for one of the two Western bloc seats at the Council, losing out to Ireland and Norway. The failure represents an embarrassing blow for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who invested $1.72 million in their campaign, which involved hiring 13 full-time staff and inviting foreign diplomats to a concert by Canadian Celine Dion in New York.

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