President Barack Obama's endorsement of India for a permanent seat on the reformed UN Security Council has led to speculation about when real change will happen since the reform process has been cranking on for nearly two decades.
India could get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council before the end of its two year term as a non-permanent member, Indian diplomats believe, but US officials say it will take more time as the process is "complex and lengthy".
President Barack Obama's endorsement of India for a permanent seat on the reformed UN Security Council has led to speculation about when real change will happen since the reform process has been cranking on for nearly two decades.
India, which enters the Security Council as a non-permanent member on Jan 1, 2011, will be pushing to speed up the reform process during its two year term.
"We are entering the Security Council after a gap of 19 years... we have no intentions of leaving the Security Council," said India's envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri.
"In other words before we complete our two year term we will be a permanent member... This is not going to take as long as people think... it will be done more quickly," he told PTI.
Noting that India would be a permanent member of a reformed Security Council, a top US diplomat said that the "process in New York is slow."
"It is complicated by the fact that there are very different views among member states and so the reality is that this will continue to be a complex and potentially lengthy negotiations," said Susan Rice, US envoy to the UN.
"It is hard to conceive of a reformed security council that includes new permanent members that wouldn't include India as a permanent member," she told journalists.
"That is the significance of the president's statement and reflects the United States view," she said.
Despite President Obama endorsing India's bid, most analysts have reflected that real change in the UN Security Council could still be years away.
Describing Puri's remarks as "ambitious," Teresita C Schaffer, head of the South Asia Programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, described the endorsement as "an act of faith on part of President Obama."
"I can practically guarantee you that the people in the US government who work in the UN were not in favour of this," she said at the Asia Society yesterday.
Schaffer also pointed out the challenges the US and India would face working together at the UN.
"Our relationship with India at the UN has actually been very difficult," she said, pointing out that being a Security Council member would be a "challenge" for India.
"They will be repeatedly asked to vote on an issue where any vote they make is going to annoy someone they care about. This is an uncomfortable position and one they haven't face in 20 years," she said, referring to the last time India was on the Council as a non-permanent member.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}