India, Brazil and South Africa should be represented at the UN Security Council and their weight in making key international decisions should increase, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Addressing the plenary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin also noted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi India was becoming more powerful year after year.

“Such countries that acquire significant weight in international affairs simply by virtue of their potential and also have the possibility and influence of the settlement of key international issues should be represented in the UN Security Council,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.

“What countries are these? This is India: the population is already more than one and a half billion people, (with) seven-plus per cent economic growth. This is a powerful country. It is becoming more powerful year after year under the leadership of Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi,” he said at the conference organised by the Moscow-based think tank.

India, the world’s most populous country, has been at the forefront of years-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying it rightly deserves a seat as a permanent member at the UN high table, which in its current form does not represent geo-political realities of the 21st century.

Citing the example of India’s initiative at the G20 Summit to admit the African Union as a permanent member, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last month exhorted the United Nations to get inspired to also make the Security Council contemporary.

Addressing the 78th UN General Assembly session in New York on September 26, Jaishankar said the African Union’s inclusion in the G20 was a “significant step.”

This significant step in reform should inspire the United Nations, a much older organization, to also make the Security Council contemporary. Broad representation is a pre-requisite for both effectiveness and credibility, Jaishankar said.

In his address, the Russian president also backed a greater role for Brazil and South Africa in international affairs.

“Brazil in Latin America: the population is huge, the growth in influence is colossal. South Africa. Well, how can their influence in the world be disregarded? So, their weight in making key decisions in the international agenda should also grow, Putin stressed.

At present, the UN Security Council comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the UN.

The five permanent members are Russia, the United Kingdom, China, France and the United States.