During the Second World War, the US, the Soviet Union, the UK, and China signed a short document that came to be known as the United Nations Declaration. And once the war ended in 1945, the UNSC was formed with the four states along with France, as the five permanent members.
The war had completely transformed the global balance of power and the UNSC was the embodiment of that change. In a nutshell, the UNSC was a club of the winners of the Second World War.
A few years later, in 1949, a communist revolution changed the leadership in China.
The older leadership, headed by Chiang Kai-Shek had escaped to modern-day Taiwan and established the Republic of China (ROC). And the new communist leadership controlled all of Mainland China, thus establishing the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
From 1949 to 1971, ROC continued to represent China at the UNSC. And the US or its allies did not recognize PRC as a legitimate state.
Now let us look at India's bid to the Permanent membership of UNSC.
It is believed that India received 2 offers inviting them to become a permanent member of the UNSC.
The first of such offers came in 1950 from the USA.
Back in the 1950s, US foreign policy was driven by a clear logic of combating the Soviet Union and the spread of communism. And in that context, then-Republican leader and later secretary of state John Foster Dulles floated the idea of replacing China as a UNSC member by India. His idea was to induct India into the UNSC and rework the institution to reflect American interests.
But Indian PM Nehru rejected the acceptance to any such offer citing it to be a clear affront to China and it would mean some kind of a break between India and China.
Nehru was a deep idealist on matters of foreign policy. He believed that the UNSC could emerge as a medium of resolving interstate conflicts.
Also, Read, Chacha Nehru: Tryst with freedom
Given his beliefs, Nehru thought that if China would be removed from the UNSC, the character of the very institution would change. Thus, given his interest in the longevity of the UNSC, he insisted that China should continue to be a part of the UNSC.
Then comes the Russian offer.
It is popularly claimed that The Soviet Union offered India a permanent seat in 1955, and India again declined the offer.
Exchanges between Nehru and Nikolai Bulganin, then premier of the Soviet Union, demonstrate that this was not a serious offer, and just a means of “sounding out India’s views”. This theory is further strengthened by the fact that the Soviet and Chinese friendship was closer than ever before during that period.
Thus, on paper, it does look like India squandered two golden opportunities of joining the UNSC on a permanent basis, but the complexities involved in the process of actually becoming a member would make anyone think twice before acting on the offers given to them.