German envoy bats for India's permanent UNSC seat

India with a population of 1.4 billion people should have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council as its absence will hurt the world body's credibility, said German Ambassador to India Walter J Lindner here on Tuesday.

"India must have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. India with 1.4 billion people is not yet a permanent member. This is unheard of. This cannot go on like this because it hurts the credibility of the UN system," Lindner told ANI.

For long several countries have been supporting India's candidature for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

India, a founding member of the UN, is one of the largest contributors of troops to UN peacekeeping missions. The country has been elected seven times to the Security Council as a non-permanent member, most recently from 2011 to 2012.

The UN Security Council has five permanent members with veto power -- US, UK, China, France, and Russia.

Talking about the designation of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, Lindner said that the outcome among countries was "satisfactory," which strengthened the fight against global terrorism.

"One of the rules of international diplomacy is that you do things behind the scenes. It was a good collaboration with many international actors and we had an outcome which was satisfactory and that counts. It was satisfactory for us, India and has strengthened the fight against terror," he said.

The German envoy said that terrorists should not have a future "whoever they are, wherever they are and whenever they act," and added that they should be brought to books.

Underscoring the need to strengthen anti-terror cooperation, Lindner said: "We will work together with India. Having a population of 1.4 billion people, India has a strong voice as it has been a victim of terrorism, like other countries."

In a huge diplomatic victory for India, the UN on May 1 designated Azhar as a "global terrorist" after China lifted its technical hold on a proposal to blacklist the JeM chief, a decade after New Delhi approached the world body for the first time on the issue.

In the past, China had stalled India's proposal to enlist Azhar as a 'global terrorist' at least four times in the last 10 years, the latest being in March this year. Beijing had previously blocked New Delhi's bid three times -- in 2009, 2016 and 2017.

A global terrorist tag under the UN's 1267 committee will lead to a freeze on Azhar's assets and a ban on his travel and constraints on possessing weapons, similarly to the Al Qaida and ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

Asked on the exit polls which projected a majority for the BJP-led NDA, Lindner said that Germany will continue to maintain a great relationship with any Indian government, whoever will win the Lok Sabha elections.