Batting for India’s candidature for the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, France’s permanent member to the United Nations said that India is “absolutely needed” as a permanent member of an enhanced Security Council. He said that it is a matter of “strategic priority” for them to get Japan, India, Germany, Brazil and fair representation from Africa on the reformed and enlarged UNSC.
France’s permanent representative to the UN Francois Delattre said, “The enlargement of UNSC is absolutely needed to better reflect the world as it is. Germany, India, Japan, Brazil and fair representation from Africa, in particular, is absolutely needed on the table to achieve a fairer representation of the UNSC.” French envoy was speaking beside the German envoy to the UN Christoph Heusgen at the end of Germany’s Presidency of the Council for April.
India has been at the forefront among nations in the UN pushing for reforms in its Security Council and emphasising the place it rightly deserves at the high-table as a permanent member.
India’s permanent representative to UN ambassador Syed Akbaruddin had earlier said that more than 90 per cent of written submissions in the document are in favour of expansion in both categories of membership specified in the Charter. He had stated in the informal meeting of the Plenary on the Intergovernmental negotiations on the question of fair representation and increase in the permanent membership of UNSC that 113 countries out of 122 have supported expansion.
Akbaruddin has also stated that the expansion of the UN Security Council is a process rather than an event and the impediments to moving forward remain the same.
Considering the crucial role the United Nations plays in acting as a mediator and resolving the issues having far-reaching consequences, the Fench envoy has stated that it only reinforces the need of having a reformed UN Security Council and thus they are of the firm belief of including Germany, India, Japan, Brazil and fair representation of African countries in the enlarged UNSC.
It is notable here that France has also strongly supported India’s bid to list Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.
