After the first in-person Quad Summit between leaders from United States, India, Japan and Australia, Foreign Secretary of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that President Joe Biden felt that India should have permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

“There was an appreciation of our presidency of the UN Security Council, especially on the Afghanistan issue. President Joe Biden was very specific in stating that he felt India should have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council,” Shringla said following the conclusion of the quadrilateral security dialogue, where along with Biden, Indian PM Narendra Modi, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison were present.

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India began its eighth term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC on January 1 and are set to remain as such for a period of two years.

India’s bid for a permanent seat at the Security Council has support from four of the five P5 nations, namely the US, UK, France and Russia. China is the only permanent member which is yet to officially back India’s bid.  

Meanwhile, the Foreign Secretary further said that Modi had highlighted the issue of getting access to H1B visa and said the matter will be “looked into” during the bilateral meet with the US President.

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“PM Modi highlighted the issue of getting access for Indian professionals to the US and mentioned H1B visa. It’ll be looked into.”

During the Quad meet, there was also a “strong emphasis on trade and economic relations. The leaders felt to ask their concerned ministers to see how to impart greater dynamism, Shringla added.

Earlier in the day, Modi and Biden held a bilateral meeting at the White House, where the two leaders emphasized the importance of trade between the two countries.

Modi is on his seventh visit to the US since assuming the post of the Indian prime minister in 2014. Post the Quad summit, Modi is scheduled to address at the 76th session of UNGA tomorrow morning in New York.