India confident of securing permanent UNSC seat

Expressing confidence that India would very soon secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said New Delhi continues to remain engage with the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) process, adding the same will be underlined during United Nations General Assembly president-elect Ambassador Peter Thomson's visit early next week.

Addressing the media here, MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said a UN body mandated to maintain international peace and security cannot remain hostage to the geo-politics of 1945.

"It has to recognize the new and rising powers which are making an active contribution to the world stage. India is among the largest troop contributing countries to the UN whether it is our civilizational legacy, whether it is our economic might and what we contribute to the UN processes and activities. I think our credentials are well-known. And as and when the world body is in a position to move ahead on the process of UN Security Council reform, I think we stand a very good chance," Swarup said.

"So, for anyone to say that this has been confined to the backburner is definitely not true. We continue to remain engage with the IGN process and I did underline that when Ambassador Peter Thomson comes here that will one of the important issues on the agenda, we want to ask him how he intends to give a fillip," he added.

Asserting that this issue is very much on the front burner, Swarup said, "As you know we are partners with three other countries, Germany, Japan and Brazil as part of the G 4 which has been campaigning relentlessly for UN reform. We have actively participated in the IGN (Inter-Governmental Negotiations) process which is now chaired by Ambassador Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg."

"The immediate round of consultations is now over and the second phase is about to begin and we remain hopeful that sooner rather than later the entire international community will recognize the logic of UN Security Council reform," he added.