Union Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma has said India will support African Union candidates seeking membership in the expanded UN Security Council.
New Delhi, Apr 8 : Union Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma has said India will support African Union candidates seeking membership in the expanded UN Security Council.
"Both India and the African leadership strongly feel that the United Nations reforms must be all encompassing to make its organs truly representative of the contemporary realities and also democratic in composition," Sharma said on Monday.
"For that, the expansion of the Security Council, both in permanent and non-permanent category, is agreed in principle. India has throughout made it clear that India will support the AU consensus on the African country candidates for the UN Security Council," Sharma added.
For more than a decade the UN General Assembly has been struggling with ways to expand the Security Council, the most powerful UN body which has the power to make binding decisions about war and peace.
Among the top candidates for permanent seats are Germany, Japan, India, Brazil and an undetermined African state.
India has tried very hard to get international support for its stake for a permanent seat at the Security Council.
Now in a barter of sorts, India has offered support to African candidates for the Security Council.
ANI