U.S. today said it was “definitely committed” to consider India for a permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council but rued that there was no international consensus yet on the reforms of the world body.
Addressing a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna after the inaugural session of the Indo-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. was committed to consider India for the membership.
“We don’t have any way forward yet on the United Nations Security Council reforms but we are obviously very committed to considering India. At this point, as you probably know, there is no consensus over all,” Ms. Clinton said in a response to a query what is stopping the US from endorsing India for a permanent membership in an expanded UNSC.
She said in multilateral forums things move slowly and that there was no consensus yet on the issue of the reforms of the world body. “...but we are definitely committed to the consideration of India,” she said.
Earlier, in her opening remarks at the Dialogue, Ms. Clinton said India’s rise would “certainly be a factor in any future consideration of the reforms” of the United Nations.