Indian hopes high for permanent UN Security Council seat

Indian Foreign Minister says India has all the credentials to become a permanent member of the UNSG

After upsetting China – a member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council – by hosting the Dalai Lama in a disputed region, India still believes it deserves to become a permanent member of the council.

India has all the credentials to become a permanent member of the UNSG and four permanent members, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), France and Russia, had extended support to its bid, said Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday.



She also said China that had "not publicly opposed it".

New Delhi was also anticipating that new members would have the same rights, including the veto power enjoyed by the existing permanent members, said the Indian minister.

"I am confident that if not this time, then next time, India will become a permanent member of the Security Council,” Sushma Swaraj claimed during a question hour session in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament.

In response to a question whether India would also get 'veto' power, she said New Delhi wanted the same responsibilities, prerogatives and obligations as the current permanent members.

"We don't want any discrimination between old and new members. We don't want two classes - that there is a first class and a second class of permanent members. This should make it clear that India wants the same responsibilities, prerogatives and obligations as the current permanent members," Swaraj added.

She said the country had been making diplomatic efforts to ensure not only expansion but also reforms in the UNSC. The minister argued that it wanted an expansion of its permanent as well as non-permanent membership of the council.



On the matter of extending veto powers to new permanent members in their submission during the inter-governmental negotiation process of the 69th General Assembly, she said, the US and the UK had opposed the idea but France supported the extension. China and Russia did not make any submission, Swaraj added.

China on Wednesday denounced India's decision to host the Dalai Lama on a contested stretch of land on the India-China border and said it would cause serious damage to relations between the two countries.

The Dalai Lama's trip to Arunchal Pradesh, an eastern Himalayan region administered by New Delhi, but claimed by China as "southern Tibet", has raised hackles in Beijing, which labels the monk a dangerous separatist.

 

This article originally appeared on The Times of India.