India will be the world's next superpower right up there with the United States and China, and the United Nations (UN) will continue to weaken unless India joins the expanded UN Security Council as a permanent member, Finland's President Alexander Stubb told Firstpost's Managing Editor Palki Sharma in an exclusive interview.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost Managing Editor Palki Sharma, Finland's President Alexander Stubb has said that India will be the world's next superpower alongside the United States and China.

In the interview at the Finnish capital of Helsinki, Stubb also backed India's bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and warned that the UN will continue to weaken without it.

"I am a great admirer of India, and I think India will be our next superpower, you know, right up there with the United States and with China. And, of course, in taking that security and political role, whether it's, you know, Prime Minister Modi or whether it's Foreign Minister Jaishankar, it's a strategic thinking. What India is obviously doing right now is having a multi-vectoral foreign policy, which is fully understandable," said Stubb.