Cuba backs India's bid for UNSC seat

New Delhi, Apr 12 (UNI) Cuba today slammed the United States for ''double standards'' on the Iranian nuclear issue as compared with the Israeli programme and strongly backed India's bid for a permanent seat in a more democratised UN Security Council.

''India, with its growing economic and political might, satisfies all the conditions of a new member of the United Nations Security Council,'' visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said here today.

Advocating a UN with two members each from Africa, Latin America and Asia with veto powers, the Cuban Foreign Minister said at a press conference after rounding up his two-day visit to India that the two countries were strengthening cooperation in various fields mainly oil, IT and high-tech and pharmaceuticals.

The Cuban Foreign Minister, during the past two days, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and held discussions with Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma. Discussions focussed on strengthening bilateral relations and the NAM of which Cuba is presently the Chairman.

He defended the right of any country, including Iran, to have nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but opposed use of nuclear energy for weapons.

He said even the NPT was not opposed to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

He sought a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue under the aegis of the IAEA and said Cuba, as a member of the UN, would have to comply with UN sanctions against Iran.

UNI