India gets US support for permanent UNSC seat
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (AFP): US President Barack Obama Monday backed India for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), recognising its rise as a great power in a significant victory for New Delhi's foreign policy.
"The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate," Obama said in a speech to the Indian parliament.
"That is why I can say today-in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member," he added on the last day of his state visit.
Given the tortuous negotiations likely to make the body-set up after World War II-reflect 21st Century realities, many analysts believe it could be years before the new Council is formed.
Ben Rhodes, a deputy US national security advisor, said that the intention of the United States was clear, and based on India's emerging role as a great strategic, economic and democratic power.
William Burns, the top ranked US foreign service officer, said Obama's statement was a "recognition of the obvious about India's rise and significance".
But he cautioned that the announcement on Monday was only one small step in a "very complicated and difficult process" of reforming the Security Council underway at the United Nations in New York.
"It is bound to take a significant amount of time."
Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the only permanent members of the Security Council and can veto any resolution.
India has won a temporary seat on the UN Security Council and will take up the position for two years from January 1.
AP adds from New Delhi: Obama's announcement is more of a diplomatic gesture than a concrete step. Nonetheless, it underscores the importance the U.S. places on fostering ties with this nation of 1.2 billion people, something Obama has been seeking to accomplish throughout his time here.
Obama said repeatedly throughout his three days in India - first in the financial center of Mumbai and then in the capital of New Delhi - that he views the relationship between the two countries as one of the "defining partnerships" of the 21st century.
He set out to prove it by making India the first stop on a four-country tour of Asia, and then through economic announcements, cultural outreach and finally the announcement about the UN Security Council.
India has sought permanent council membership as a recognition of its surging economic clout and its increased stature in world affairs. The US endorsement is certain to deepen ties between the two countries and could also send Obama's popularity in India skyrocketing to a level comparable to that enjoyed by George W. Bush. The former president is seen as a hero here for helping end India's nuclear isolation.
Meanwhile, AFP in another despatch from New Delhi reported: US President Barack Obama criticised India on Monday for failing to condemn rights abuses in Myanmar, saying democracies with global aspirations could not ignore "gross violations" in other countries.
"When peaceful democratic movements are suppressed, as they have been in Burma (Myanmar), then the democracies of the world cannot remain silent," Obama said in an address to the Indian parliament.
"Faced with such gross violations of human rights, it is the responsibility of the international community, especially leaders like the United States and India, to condemn it," he said.
"If I can be frank, in international fora, India has often shied away from these issues," he added.
Once a staunch supporter of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, India began engaging the junta in the mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities came to the fore.
As well as needing the military regime's help to counter the separatists along their common border, India is eyeing oil and gas fields in Myanmar and is eager to counter China's growing influence there.
India in July welcomed Myanmar's reclusive military leader Than Shwe for a state visit, outraging human rights groups who said it was reneging on its principles due to competition with China.
Obama devoted a section of his parliamentary address Monday to rights abuses in Myanmar, and accused its military rulers of stealing Sunday's election there-the first in the Southeast Asian nation for 20 years.
"It is unacceptable to gun down peaceful protestors and incarcerate political prisoners decade after decade.
"It is unacceptable to steal an election, as the regime in Burma has done again for all the world to see," he said.
"With increased power comes increased responsibility," Obama said, adding that he looked forward to working with India, "and other nations that aspire to Security Council membership," to ensure that Security Council resolutions are implemented and sanctions enforced.
"Speaking up for those who cannot do so for themselves is not interfering in the affairs of other countries. It's not violating the rights of sovereign nations," Obama said, in a clear reference to India's non-aligned foreign policy tradition.
The US President defended the Federal Reserve after foreign condemnation of its "quantitative easing" policy of printing billions of new dollars to shore up the fragile US economy.
Obama said during a visit to India that the Fed had an independent role in regulating the US economy and he could not order it to act, nor comment on its decisions. But he broadly defended the central bank's motivations.
"The Fed's mandate, my mandate, is to grow our economy. That is not just good for the United States, that is good for the world as a whole," Obama said during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate," Obama said in a speech to the Indian parliament.
"That is why I can say today-in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member," he added on the last day of his state visit.
Given the tortuous negotiations likely to make the body-set up after World War II-reflect 21st Century realities, many analysts believe it could be years before the new Council is formed.
Ben Rhodes, a deputy US national security advisor, said that the intention of the United States was clear, and based on India's emerging role as a great strategic, economic and democratic power.
William Burns, the top ranked US foreign service officer, said Obama's statement was a "recognition of the obvious about India's rise and significance".
But he cautioned that the announcement on Monday was only one small step in a "very complicated and difficult process" of reforming the Security Council underway at the United Nations in New York.
"It is bound to take a significant amount of time."
Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States are the only permanent members of the Security Council and can veto any resolution.
India has won a temporary seat on the UN Security Council and will take up the position for two years from January 1.
AP adds from New Delhi: Obama's announcement is more of a diplomatic gesture than a concrete step. Nonetheless, it underscores the importance the U.S. places on fostering ties with this nation of 1.2 billion people, something Obama has been seeking to accomplish throughout his time here.
Obama said repeatedly throughout his three days in India - first in the financial center of Mumbai and then in the capital of New Delhi - that he views the relationship between the two countries as one of the "defining partnerships" of the 21st century.
He set out to prove it by making India the first stop on a four-country tour of Asia, and then through economic announcements, cultural outreach and finally the announcement about the UN Security Council.
India has sought permanent council membership as a recognition of its surging economic clout and its increased stature in world affairs. The US endorsement is certain to deepen ties between the two countries and could also send Obama's popularity in India skyrocketing to a level comparable to that enjoyed by George W. Bush. The former president is seen as a hero here for helping end India's nuclear isolation.
Meanwhile, AFP in another despatch from New Delhi reported: US President Barack Obama criticised India on Monday for failing to condemn rights abuses in Myanmar, saying democracies with global aspirations could not ignore "gross violations" in other countries.
"When peaceful democratic movements are suppressed, as they have been in Burma (Myanmar), then the democracies of the world cannot remain silent," Obama said in an address to the Indian parliament.
"Faced with such gross violations of human rights, it is the responsibility of the international community, especially leaders like the United States and India, to condemn it," he said.
"If I can be frank, in international fora, India has often shied away from these issues," he added.
Once a staunch supporter of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, India began engaging the junta in the mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities came to the fore.
As well as needing the military regime's help to counter the separatists along their common border, India is eyeing oil and gas fields in Myanmar and is eager to counter China's growing influence there.
India in July welcomed Myanmar's reclusive military leader Than Shwe for a state visit, outraging human rights groups who said it was reneging on its principles due to competition with China.
Obama devoted a section of his parliamentary address Monday to rights abuses in Myanmar, and accused its military rulers of stealing Sunday's election there-the first in the Southeast Asian nation for 20 years.
"It is unacceptable to gun down peaceful protestors and incarcerate political prisoners decade after decade.
"It is unacceptable to steal an election, as the regime in Burma has done again for all the world to see," he said.
"With increased power comes increased responsibility," Obama said, adding that he looked forward to working with India, "and other nations that aspire to Security Council membership," to ensure that Security Council resolutions are implemented and sanctions enforced.
"Speaking up for those who cannot do so for themselves is not interfering in the affairs of other countries. It's not violating the rights of sovereign nations," Obama said, in a clear reference to India's non-aligned foreign policy tradition.
The US President defended the Federal Reserve after foreign condemnation of its "quantitative easing" policy of printing billions of new dollars to shore up the fragile US economy.
Obama said during a visit to India that the Fed had an independent role in regulating the US economy and he could not order it to act, nor comment on its decisions. But he broadly defended the central bank's motivations.
"The Fed's mandate, my mandate, is to grow our economy. That is not just good for the United States, that is good for the world as a whole," Obama said during a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.