Krishna to attend high-level meet at UNSC

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is expected to attend a high-level meeting on peace, security and development at the UN Security Council on February 11 during which he would also push for India's quest for a permanent seat in the top UN organ.

The meeting is being organised by the Brazilian delegation that holds the presidency of the Council for this month.

"We have received confirmation from minister of foreign affairs of several delegations," Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, Permanent Representative of Brazil, told journalists yesterday.

She said  Portugal, India, Germany, Colombia, Gabon and Bosnia have confirmed their participation.

"We would like to emphasize a theme that is very dear to developing countries," Viotti said.

"We would like to take this broader view on peace and security and explore the inter-linkages between security and development."

Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota will preside over the meeting, which will be briefed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sarah Cliffe, the Director for the World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development at the World Bank.

"The idea," Viotti said, "is to take a more comprehensive approach to the issues of peace and security keeping in mind that many conflicts have an underlying cause that is sometimes related to issues of poverty, social inequalities and problems of youth and unemployment."

The Indian mission at the UN was not able to provide details of Krishna's trip but he is expected to push India's agenda for Security Council reform as countries get ready to negotiate on a text containing several options, which has been prepared by Afghanistan's envoy to the UN, Zahir Tanin, who is also the chair of the reform discussion.

Issues like how many new permanent seats should be added and who should get those seats in the Security Council, have been discussed for almost two decades.

Indian officials, however, have reiterated that ongoing "text based negotiations" are bound to produce results.

There are currently 15 members on the Security Council—five permanent (Britain, China, France, Russia, United States), which have veto power and 10 non-permanent members that are elected for a two year terms.

Several countries including India, Brazil, Germany, Japan and South Africa want to become permanent members.

Options include the expansion of permanent and non-permanent seats.

It has also been suggested that the new permanent members may not be given veto power to start with but after a review period.

During his trip to India in November, US President Barack Obama endorsed India's place on the Council but since then the US officials have indicated that actual change could still take time.

"It is complicated by the fact that there are very different views among member states and so the reality is that this will continue to be a complex and potentially lengthy negotiations," Susan Rice, US envoy to the UN, said in November, last year.

A senior Indian diplomat, however, said that none of the current permanent members were opposed to India's place on the Council.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he added that reform was coming fast –in the next six months to two years—before India's current term as a non-permanent member ends.

Reform, the official insisted, did not hinge on the consent of the permanent five members. Rather, it was inevitable.