External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar launched India's official campaign for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for 2028-29 at an event attended by UN ambassadors, diplomats and officials. He outlined a policy framework described as SHANTI, an acronym for Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity, and set out New Delhi's priorities for the prospective term. The minister said India would press for attention to maritime order and the safety of seafarers.

Mr Jaishankar identified priorities that included being a voice of the Global South, advancing reformed multilateralism, preparing peacekeeping for future challenges, addressing threats arising from misuse of artificial intelligence (AI), securing the maritime commons and countering terror financing. He emphasised adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the basis for maritime order and urged cooperation among capable nations to combat piracy and safeguard unimpeded maritime commerce. The minister highlighted India's role in search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and capacity building.

The minister set out India's operational contributions in maritime security, citing regular anti-piracy, counter-narcotics and anti-trafficking activities and protection of sea lanes across the Indo-Pacific including the northern and southern Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Malacca Straits and the Gulf of Guinea. He linked the focus on maritime commons to disruptions from the West Asia conflict and noted that attacks on ships had endangered seafarers and affected supply chains and fuel prices. The statement said 11 Indian nationals had lost their lives amid the hostilities.

Countering terror financing was presented as another central objective, with a shift from addressing symptoms to constricting terrorist resource bases and promoting objective, evidence-based processes for listing groups. The minister underlined India's peacekeeping credentials, with 4,300 personnel deployed across 10 of the 11 active UN peacekeeping missions, and set out a human-centric vision for AI linked to capacity building and narrowing the global digital divide. The campaign will contest the Asia-Pacific Group seat against Tajikistan when voting takes place in June next year.