India has been elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for a three-year term starting from next year. India received 181 out of the 187 valid votes cast in the election held on Wednesday, June 4.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar thanked the countries that supported India and said the country remains committed to development and strengthening the ECOSOC.
India was elected to the Economic and Social Council for the term 2026-28 @UN today. Thank member states for their overwhelming support and reposing their trust in us. Appreciate the efforts of @IndiaUNNewYork.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) June 4, 2025
India remains committed to championing development issues and keep…
This will be at least the 18th time India has served on the council. India had earlier completed four consecutive terms from 2008 to 2020.
ECOSOC is one of the main UN bodies that deals with economic matters and sustainable development. It has 54 members, and every year, one-third of the members complete their terms, making 18 seats available for election.
The seats are divided by region. This year, four seats were available for the Asia-Pacific region. Along with India, China, Lebanon and Turkmenistan were elected.
China received 180 votes, while Lebanon and Turkmenistan got 183 votes each. All four countries were the only candidates and were supported by their regional group.
I congratulate the newly elected members of the UN Economic and Social Council (@UNECOSOC): Australia 🇦🇺, Burundi 🇧🇮, Chad 🇹🇩, China 🇨🇳, Croatia 🇭🇷, Ecuador 🇪🇨, Finland 🇫🇮, Germany 🇩🇪, India 🇮🇳, Lebanon 🇱🇧, Mozambique 🇲🇿, Norway 🇳🇴, Peru 🇵🇪, Russian Federation 🇷🇺, Sierra… pic.twitter.com/djwlcuvvPB
— UN ECOSOC President (@UNECOSOC) June 5, 2025
In the East European group, five countries contested for three seats. Ukraine and Croatia were elected in the first round, getting 130 and 140 votes respectively. Russia received 108 votes and had to face a second round against Belarus, which got 96 votes.
North Macedonia was eliminated with 59 votes. In the runoff, 23 countries abstained from voting, lowering the required number of votes to win. Russia then won with 115 votes, while Belarus received 46.
The United States and Germany also joined the ECOSOC through by-elections after Italy and Liechtenstein resigned their seats. India will now join its neighbouring countries Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which are already members of the council.
