UNSC disagreement doesn't mean lack of support to India: US

Washington, Sept 21: The US has acknowledged that it has disagreement with India over the process of UN Security Council reforms, but said it is committed to India's inclusion as a permanent member of the powerful wing of the world body.

"The (US) President has made the statement (endorsing India as a permanent member of the UN Security Council), not once but on multiple occasions.

And no one is walking away from the commitment made to support India's inclusion," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told PTI.

Biswal was responding to questions that the recent statements coming out of the US diplomats at the UN is being considered by many in New Delhi that the Obama Administration is having second thoughts on its endorsement of India as a permanent member of an expanded UN Security Council.

"The nature of what a reformed Security Council looks like is a very complex undertaking. I am not going to comment on that. It is not an area where I am engaged," she said in response to the question.

"But I do know, that this is an area where there are very intense deliberations and discussions and they are extremely complex and nuanced. So the process by which, we get to this is going to be a complicated one," she said.

"There would be some aspects of that process where we and India agree on the approach and process and what the reforms process would look like. There would be many areas where we do not agree. And every disagreement on a process should not be taken as a lack of support for India’s inclusion," she said.

Observing that the reform of UN Security Council is going to be "complicated to manage the overall" process, she said: "The outcome of the Indian inclusion in the Security Council is the one we have already at the highest level endorsed."

Biswal refrained from elaborating on the areas of disagreements between India and the US on the reforms process. "I do not even know, if its appropriate to talk about these issues. Because these are deliberative process that need to be worked through on how different proposals on reforms are reconciled," she said.

"I don't think those are going to deliberated in the public domain. Those are conversations that are best left to the folks to be able to worked through," she said, reiterating there is no change in the US position on support to India.

American Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power had earlier said the US is "open in principle" to a "modest" expansion of both permanent and non-permanent members but added the condition that "any consideration of an expansion of permanent members must take into account the ability and willingness of countries to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security and to the other purposes of the United Nations."

PTI