The Hindu : Front Page : India may accept Security Council seat without veto

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 19, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

India may accept Security Council seat without veto

By Amit Baruah

NEW DELHI, DEC. 18. India appears ready to accept a permanent berth on the U.N. Security Council without a veto initially and then lobby to achieve equal status with the Permanent Five veto-wielding nations.

Asked about the position of the U.K{gt}, France and Russia (countries that have repeatedly supported New Delhi's candidature) on India's entry into the Council with the veto, informed government sources said it was ambiguous.

Referring to the two proposals made by the High-Level Panel on U.N. reforms — one to expand the permanent category without the veto and the other to increase the non-permanent seats — the sources said India favoured the first option. If India opted out of the race without the veto then other candidates would snap up the position. These remarks come in the wake of a PTI report quoting the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, as saying that it should be possible for the member-nations to agree to one of the two proposals made by the High-Level Panel. The veto power is absent from both proposals made by the panel.

``Obviously, there are a group of countries determined to get permanent seats and are campaigning very much for that and there are others in the organisation which are determined to prevent them from getting permanent seats," Mr. Annan is reported to have said.

On the progress made by India and China on the border talks being conducted by the Special Representatives, the sources said progress was being made. The two sides were working on a set of political principles to approach the border settlement, which may or may not be ready by the time the Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao, comes to Delhi early next year. The sources, however, said there were considerable differences between the two countries on the border question.

Talks with Pakistan

On the India-Pakistan dialogue, the sources said the back-channel interaction between the National Security Adviser, J.N. Dixit, and his Pakistan counterpart, Tariq Aziz, continued. The two were in touch, the sources said, but gave no details of the discussions.

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