Sunday, October 10, 2010

Mukherjee hopes expanded UNSC will''ve India in permanent seat-11/10/2010

11/10/2010

Mukherjee hopes expanded UNSC will''ve India in permanent seat

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Oct 10 (PTI) Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed hope that India will be given a permanent place in the UN Security Council whenever the much-debated and awaited reforms of the international body and its expansion take place.

India has been pitching hard for reform of the United Nations, and has been lobbying for a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC.

"I feel that when the reforms in UN take place and the Security Council will be expanded in the permanent membership category, India will have a place, I hope so, but first it is to be expanded," Mukherjee said.

He made the comments at a media interaction as he winded up his three-day trip to Washington where he attended the bi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

"Our position on the UNSC has been there for quite some time," Mukherjee said.

India has maintained that an overhaul of the world institution, that was created post World War II, is necessary to meet the changed realities of the world.

Early this month here, National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon had said that things are moving in the right direction for the country to get a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.

"I think the world''s view has evolved, as far as I can see we are heading in the right direction. As far as we are concerned in terms of distance or the gap of the world''s attitude towards the UN Security Council reform and what we consider the desirable outcome that gap has steadily narrowed," Menon had said.

Last week, India rebutted a media report that Washington has linked the UN Security Council permanent seat to the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

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