The United Nations Security Council needs urgent reforms and India should get its rightful place as a permanent member of the top UN body, says former Singapore diplomat professor Kishore Mahbubani.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV’s Sonia Singh, Mr Mahbubani talked about the much-needed reforms in the United Nations, saying that he believes the United Kingdom should give up its permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) for India.

“There is absolutely no question that India is the third-most powerful country in the world today after the United States and China. And that Great Britain is no longer ‘great’,” he said.

Explaining why the UK should relinquish its seat, Mr Mahbubani mentioned that the UK has not used its veto power for decades, fearing backlash. “So, the logical thing for the UK to do is give up its seat to India,” he said.

Speaking on the UN reforms, he said the founders of the UN ensured that all great powers of the time had vested interests in the organisation in order to make it work.

“The lesson that (UN’s founders) learned from the collapse of the League of Nations early in the 20th century is that if a great power leaves, the organisation collapses,” the former diplomat said.

“But they also believed that you must have the great powers of today, not the great powers of yesterday. Unfortunately, they didn’t create a mechanism for changing the seats,” he said.

Another reason for the UK to give up its seat is that it will free them up to act independently,” he said.