*Washington: *
India on Tuesday asserted it has a “good case” to become a permanent memberof the UN Security Council and a UNSC without it affects the UnitedNation’s credibility.
Amid India’s consistent growth as a potent power on global stage, the pointwas made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar before an influentialWashington audience after a major foreign policy speech at a top US thinktank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
“If you have… a United Nations where the most populous country in theworld – may be in 15 years – with the third largest economy is not in thedecision making of the United Nations, I grant you, it affects the countryconcerned,” he said.
“But I would also suggest it affects the United Nations’ credibility,” saidMr Jaishankar in response to a question after his speech.
Read Top Stories
“Obviously, we are biased. We believe we have a good case,” he asserted.
“It’s not just the Security Council. Look, say how the peacekeepingoperations (are being undertaken) around, who actually kind of decide.There are other angles. I mean, you could argue, who gives the budget andtherefore that should be a factor. That’s a reasonable proposition,” hesaid.
“This is one of the key challenges facing the world today, which is allthat we took as given over the last 70 years. I’m not suggesting they’regoing to disappear or they’ll become irrelevant, but surely things arehappening beyond them. And that is creating a new kind of internationalrelations. It’s something which we all need to get real about,” MrJaishankar asserted.
