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India seeks permanent seat in Security Council

India on Tuesday sought its permanent inclusion in the Security Council of the United Nations Organisation, pointing out that non-inclusion of developing countries was making functioning of the august body out-moded.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, at the 55th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, reaffirmed New Delhi's willingness to take on the responsibilities of permanent membership in the council and felt that the need for expansion of membership in both categories was ''self-evident''.

''The impact of actions of the Security Council is felt, with near total exclusivity by developing countries. Yet they have little influence in its decision-making,'' he regretted, recalling that this was after more than 150 countries endorsed, at the recent millennium summit, the need for a reformed council that was more representative.

Singh, while supporting the idea of global nuclear disarmament, called for building up of a consensus within and among nations on issues that affected national and international security.

''We are conscious that 155 countries are, at present, signatories to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We would like to reiterate to them our continuing commitment that India does not wish to stand in the way of entry into force of the CTBT,'' he said, pointing out that New Delhi had volunteered, and continued to, observe a moratorium on further explosive nuclear testing, thus meeting the basic obligation of the treaty.

Singh deplored increasing instances of global terrorism and said India had been an object of this menace in a state-sponsored form for a decade. ''I urge all members to work to strengthen international consensus and legal regimes against terrorism. We have proposed the draft of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism,'' he told world leaders at the millennium assembly.

He also came down heavily on narco-terrorism and hoped that the international conference slated for next year on illicit trade in small arms and light weapons would have a successful outcome in curbing the disturbing phenomenon.

The minister noted that globalisation had led to rapid advancement in information technology and created a potential for sustained economic growth, but lamented that its benefits were not percolating to vast sections of the world's society.

''This poses a major challenge. We have to determine an inclusive concept of growth and development. We have to strive for the uplift of people, in the largest sense, and not simply in terms of sectoral advances,'' he maintained.

He listed protectionist tendencies, lack of political will to implement developmental programmes and tardy amelioration of debt burden besides striking a balance between industrial growth vis-a-vis environmental protection among impediments to sustained economic growth of developing countries.

''Advancement of the democratic spirit and overcoming challenges to it, growth with equity, economic development with social justice and, as the prize which we seek, the creation of a world where injustice and deprivation give way to fulfilment and welfare for all, are among goals we should set at the dawn of this new century. The challenge is nothing less than collective enlightened global ownership,'' Singh noted.

Scanning over international developments, he appreciated action by the Commonwealth after the overthrow of a constitutionally-elected democratic government in Fiji. ''We hope that the international community will exercise its collective authority and influence to bring Fiji back to the road of democracy and rule of law.''

Holding that the world has forgotten Afghanistan, he blamed the medieval and obscurantist ideologies of the Taliban administration for blemishing peace and security from the area across west central Asia to south Asia. The minister extended India's support to the ''encouraging'' Middle East peace process.

In his opening note, Singh hailed the millennium summit as ''unique'' going by the number of countries which attended it, and asked the General Assembly to strengthen the UN's vital function of peacekeeping based on proposals in the Brahimi panel report.

UNI

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