US may back India’s UNSC bid

[Guest guest]

NYT reports US will support a developing country; US official arrives next week:

by C. RAJA MOHAN & SHISHIR GUPTA

LHASA, NEW DELHI, JUNE 16 -- As the Bush Administration prepares to show its hand on the reform of the United Nations, the prospects of American support to the Indian bid for a permanent seat at the Security Council have unexpectedly brightened.

The New York Times has quoted a senior Bush Administration official as saying that the Administration will support the addition of two new permanent members to the UNSC and one of them would be from the developing world.

 

The US has already expressed strong public support to Japan’s inclusion as a new permament member. The comments from the official that the other would be a developing country have raised India’s hopes for the critical American endorsement.

 

India will have an opportunity to find out where the US stands on the issue when Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who has been interviewed in the New York Times report, will be in Delhi next week. Emerging American position on Security Council expansion and United Nations reform is likely to be discussed in detail.

 

The other developing country currently in the fray is Brazil, which is part of a group of four countries campaigning for permanent membership of the UNSC.

 

These include Japan, Germany and India. The G-4 plans to add two African countries to this group once the African Union decides on the candidates next month.

 

If the US is to choose only one of the developing countries for its support, the odds are that it might bet on India, analysts in Delhi say.

 

While New Delhi is delighted at Washington’s evolving position, it is understood that US will soon come up with a set of criteria for expansion of the Security Council. Government sources said the criteria for permanent membership will be: population, contribution to the UN, peacekeeping operations, democratic credentials and economic status. ‘‘These benchmarks will make India the obvious contender for the UN Security Council,’’ said a senior Indian official.

 

The significant shift in Washington’s position comes after hectic Indian parleys with Bush Administration officials including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her advisor on UN reforms, Shirin Tahir-Kheli.

 

Burns is expected to take this conversation forward when he meets foreign secretary Shyam Saran next week. His visit to Delhi comes less than a month before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads to Washington.

 

American support to India’s permanent membership of the UNSC could dramatically alter the tone and tenor of Manmohan Singh’s talks with President George W. Bush on July 18.

 

In any event, it would lend substance to the statements from the Bush Administration that it would assist India in becoming a global power. The US is the last permanent member of the UNSC to finalise its position on UN reform. The US refusal to back Berlin’s candiature is an unprecedented rebuff to Germany, major European ally for 60 years.

 

It also pits Washington against China which is determined to prevent Japan’s entry into the UNSC as a permanent member. China’s opposition to Japan has put Beijing at odds with the G-4 as a whole, including India.