“Permanent Seat On Security Council Should Be India’s Right”: David Cameron At NDTV World Summit

The world needs India’s perspective on the challenges it faces and the country should get a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, former UK prime minister David Cameron has said. 

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit on Monday, Lord David Cameron said the world needs strong economic growth, more democracy and a green transition to deal with climate change and India is a shining example of all three things. 

Mr Cameron’s session at the Summit was after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s keynote speech and the former UK prime minister began by commenting on that. 

“It was great to hear PM Modi’s speech. To have that energy level at the start of your third term is truly impressive… I made it into a second term (as UK prime minister) but since then we have had quite a number of prime ministers. We have not had anyone having three terms since Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher before him. It (PM Modi’s third term) is very impressive because it means you have the ability to get real change, real things done in a very consistent way, which is what we are seeing in India,” he said. 

On the India Century, Mr Cameron said there is a need for a reset because the world has changed “hugely” since the institutions were set up after the Second World War. 

“You see the rise of India, which will probably become the world’s largest economy at some stage in this century. So, obviously, we need a reset and countries like India should be at its heart,” he said. 

To a question on his statement from 2015 that India should have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, Mr Cameron said that should be India’s right. 

“We do need reform of the United Nations Security Council and I made this argument as far back as 2005. When I became leader of the Conservative Party, India was the first country I visited outside Europe. It was the first country I visited outside Europe when I became prime minister in 2010. I like to think that I was an early believer in the Indian Century. Obviously, a permanent seat on the Security Council should be India’s right in this changed world,” he emphasised.

Stating that changing these institutions would take a long time, the former UK prime minister said it was good to see India take its place in institutions like the Quad and the G20. He also pointed out that the G7 regularly invites India to attend, almost as a standing member. 

Free Trade Agreement

On the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the UK that former prime minister Boris Johnson had said would be concluded by Diwali in 2022, Mr Cameron said it was a pity it hadn’t happened.

“I think it has not happened for a good reason. Britain and India both understand that you get only one chance to make an FTA and you have to make it a good one, which means both sides have to put more on the table. My plea, which I will be making to the foreign minister when I see him this afternoon, is that let’s make our deal as good and as big and as generous (as possible),” Mr Cameron said.

“Of course, we have to cover scotch whisky and IT workers for India. We need Indian investment in the UK and trade with India, but also India needs the millions of jobs being created every year. So it is win-win, but we should both put more on the table and take some more risk, including political risk,” he added.

Mr Cameron stressed that doing so was also important for India because it would set the standard for its deal with the European Union.

Shift In Perception

To a question on when he thought the West’s perception of India shifted, the former UK prime minister said there have been various moments, including Chandrayaan-3, which saw the first successful landing near the Moon’s south pole. For him, he said, it was the year that Indian investment in the UK overtook Japanese investment because of the Jaguar Land Rover deal by the Tata Group.

“There have been so many moments in India’s recent history which have woken people up to the potential of this great country – the opening in 1991, the moment when it was clear India’s population would overtake China, this huge green transition and green investment, and the lunar mission, which was an extraordinary moment when the whole world saw what the potential of India is,” Mr Cameron said.

“My answer, though, would be a bit more parochial. It was the year when Indian investment in the UK overtook Japanese investment because of the massive investment in Jaguar Land Rover. Here was this great iconic business, Tata – obviously mourning the loss of Ratan Tata, who was an advisor to me as prime minister – an Indian company coming into Britain, taking over one of our most famous car brands, investing in it, growing it and improving it. That, to me, was a real wake-up call that this economy has arrived on the global stage and is going to do great things,” he added.

Indian Students In UK

Asked about the anti-immigration rhetoric in the UK and its possible impact on Indian students, who make up the biggest cohort of international students in the country, Mr Cameron made a distinction between that and illegal migration.

The former prime minister said there is no limit on the number of Indian students that can study at British universities and the UK wants as many to come as possible because it is a “great industry” for them and builds great connections between the UK and India.

He pushed for taking student numbers out of immigration numbers and said the real problem in the UK was illegal migration from countries like Syria, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

Russia-Ukraine Mediation?

Mr Cameron said the world is seeing conflicts in the Middle East as well as the Russia-Ukraine situation and stressed that there is a need to reestablish norms of behaviour. Referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he said he could not think of a clearer example in his political lifetime of one country invading another with no excuse or justification.

Asked whether India could play the role of mediator given PM Modi’s earlier visit to Ukraine and his upcoming visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, Mr Cameron said India has the credibility to do so.

“We need to get back to some clear norms. This country (India) has suffered terribly from terrorism, so has my own. We need to have an understanding that there are no good terrorists and bad terrorists. We need to get back to the understanding that a country’s borders are, or should be, inviolable… I know in the West we are accused of double standards and we have made mistakes, obviously referring to Iraq, but two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said.

On what’s happening at India’s border with China, Mr Cameron said that ties in with his point on territorial integrity.

“When you see the most grotesque violation of a country’s borders, as you have with Ukraine, we all need to stand together and say to Russia that what has happened is wrong. India might well be in a position to try and provide some mediation, but it must be mediation based on the fact that Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to take territory by force and be rewarded. We know from our history that if you reward people for taking territory by force, they come back and take some more,” he said.

‘Brooke Bond, James Bond’

Mr Cameron recalled PM Modi’s reception at London’s Wembley stadium in 2015 and said it was “quite an occasion” and “something you don’t forget”.

“In the UK – if you’re lucky – as a prime minister or the party leader, you might speak to 3,000-4,000 people at your party conference. But to go to Wembley Stadium and introduce Prime Minister Modi, where you are speaking to 85,000 people, that was quite an occasion,” he said.

He said it was at that event that he had spoken about his Conservative Party giving the UK the first woman prime minister, the first Jewish prime minister and that he was sure the country would have the first British Indian prime minister.

“When I said that, I did not know there was a young man in the back row, called Rishi Sunak. He was at that speech with Prime Minister Modi… PM Modi made a very powerful speech, I remember he was talking about the relationship between UK and India and he had this great riff on tea, movies and finance. It was Brooke Bond, James Bond and Rupee Bond. I thought it was a very snappy soundbite,” he recalled.

‘Rishi Sunak Very Capable’

Mr Cameron also said it was an honour to serve as the foreign secretary under Rishi Sunak.

“I admired him. I think we was a very good prime minister. He is extremely hard-working, highly intelligent, very capable, very good at bringing people together… He had a very difficult inheritance, I think the year of three prime ministers was probably impossible to recover from, but Rishi brought stability,” he said. 

“I think we can be proud that someone whose parents had arrived in Britain from India… that within two generations he has the most important job in the country. I think that reflects well on Britain… It is remarkable, it is a great testament to our country and to your talent that this is possible, and this has happened,” the former prime minister said.