NEW YORK – Five new countries – India, Mexico, Norway, Ireland, and Kenya – formally joined the UN Security Council on Monday at a time of growing polarization in the body charged with keeping world peace and security.
They took part in a first meeting aimed at approving an agenda proposed by the current chair of the council, Tunisia.
The new countries will hold non-permanent seats on the 15-member council for two years.
The permanent members – the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain – hold veto power.
The Security Council is active in many conflict zones and crises around the world, mainly through more than a dozen peacekeeping operations involving some 100,000 soldiers from UN member states. (AFP)
