SPECIAL/INDIA AT THE UN
Another boost for India’s Security Council bid
SUMAN GUHA MOZUMDER
India’s bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security
Council received a boost last week
with the G4 countries reiterating
their position for the UNSC expansion in both permanent and non-per-manent categories.
During a meeting on the sidelines
of the United Nations General
Assembly last week between Brazil,
Germany, India and Japan — at
which Indian Foreign Minister S M
Krishna was present — the four
countries agreed that such expansion
was necessary to have more representation from the developing world.
During his address at the UNGA,
Indian Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh said the reform
and expansion of the Security
Council are essential if it is to reflect
contemporary reality.
UNSC expansion and reform,
Singh said, ‘will enhance the credibil-
ity and effectiveness in dealing with
global challenges. Early reform of the
Security Council must be pursued with
renewed vigor and urgently enacted.’
In his address to the Indian parliament
last year, President Barack Obama had said
the US would back India’s claim to perma-
nent membership of the Security council.
The foreign minister of the four countries
as well as the need for increased
representation of developing coun-
tries in both categories, to better
reflect today’s geopolitical realities,’
said India’s Foreign Secretary
Ranjan Mathai.
JAY MANDAL/ON ASSIGNMENT
Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna with his counterparts from Japan, Brazil and Germany. From
left, Krishna, Koichiro Gemba of Japan, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota of Brazil, and Guido Westerwelle of
Germany
— Krishna of India, Antonio de Aguiar
Patriota of Brazil, Guido Westerwelle of
Germany, and Koichiro Gemba of Japan —
in a joint statement reiterated their com-
mon vision of an enlarged Security Council.
No US-India tension on Palestine issue, stress leaders
SUMAN GUHA MOZUMDER
Despite differences of opinion between the United States
and India on Palestine seeking full membership of the
United Nations, there apparently is no tension between
the two countries on the issue.
‘I think it was very clear that none of us wants a situation where there is a communications breakdown and a
conflict and confrontation stare us in the face. That will
not be in the interest particularly of the Palestinian people,’ Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao told reporters
after the bilateral meeting between Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and Indian External Affairs Minister S M
Krishna at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York last
week.
Ambassador Rao acknowledged that the Palestinian
issue was discussed in some depth. She said India has
identified with the Palestinian cause for years, and ‘that
position was understood well by the US. I don’t think
there was any tone that would have suggested that this is
an issue on which there is a tension between India and the
US.’
Both Washington and Delhi agreed, Rao said, that the
solution has to be peaceful.
‘We keep aloft this very legitimate aspiration of
Palestinian people for a viable and independent state (
living) in peaceful coexistence ( with Israel). On that there is
not divergence of opinion between India and the US,’ Rao
said.
The Krishna-Clinton meeting went on for almost an hour
and was attended by senior officials from both sides. The
topics of discussion included bilateral issues including ter-
PARESH GANDHI
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton greets Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna as
Indian Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao, right, looks on
rorism, and multilateral issues including Syria, South
Sudan and the Middle east.
Krishna described the meeting with Clinton as ‘very positive’.
Rao told reporters that it was agreed at the meeting that
India and the US would like to intensify anti-terrorism
cooperation in terms of intelligence and equipment sharing
and how best to prevent future terrorist attacks.
