Venezuela backs India's bid for permanent membership of UNSC

Venezuela today pitched for reforms in the UN and backed India's bid for permanent membership in the Security Council, saying the global body must have uniform representation and "not just from countries of the First World".

"We are with India and it should be part of the new architecture in UN that should allow different emerging poles to be represented... India should be part of UNSC and so should be other countries," Venezuelan Ambassador Augusto Montiel said.

He was addressing a press conference at the Indian Women's Press Corps here.

"UN must exist but with necessary renovations and changes to include Asia, Latin America and other regions and not just the First World countries," he said.

India has been seeking a permanent place in the UN Security Council to reflect its importance as a trillion dollar economy and a major South Asian power.

Oil-rich Venezuela is a leading economic power in Latin America and Montiel said, its ties with India are growing with more cooperation in different sectors.

On US President Donald Trump's executive order banning foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries to enter the US, he said, "Right now, we need leaders, especially in the US and in some European countries, who can regain the essence of international democracy."

"Mexico must be feeling a bit worried now... We need civilised democracy. We don't want any international policemen," he said, when asked about the order's impact on Latin American countries.

"We don't think socialism has anything to do with 18th or 19th century. It is about right of everybody to exist. Peace is not absence of war, but conditions for everybody to live and co-exist," he said.

The senior Venezuelan diplomat also alleged that the international press in the West does not portray "true and complete image" of his country.

"Besides, the then US President Barack Obama had signed an executive order in 2015 and renewed in 2016 that declared Venezuela 'an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States'. When we try to protect democracy through constitutional means, we are portrayed by the media as if we are dictators, and what is this decree then," he asked.

"This order also says that on orders from the top administration, the US can intervene militarily in Venezuela," he said, while reading out from the text of the order.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)