Congress Flays Govt Over Loss Of Security

A statement signed by former external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee and released by the partys official spokesperson said no doubt this defeat will have serious implications on Indias position in the UN and its claim to a permanent seat on the security council.

If India was able to muster a respectable number of supporters on this occasion, then our claim for permanent membership would have been further strengthened, he stated.

Mukherjee held that member states should have been briefed exhaustively on Indias position on the CTBT. The highly publicised meeting of the external affairs minister with 77 counterparts during his stay in New York failed to convince them, he held.

Referring to the external affairs ministrys patting ourselves through local press, Mukherjee held that it is high time instead of looking at the domestic audience on international issues, we should concentrate more on other friendly nations.

The statement also criticised senior officers for failing to make any realistic assessment about the outcome of election after extensive lobbying.

Blaming the disgraceful defeat on Japans use of its economic clout was pointless, he added, since this was well known in advance.

The United Front government should not leave the international relations to take care of themselves, he said.