Chile to support India's bid for permanent UN Security Council seat

New Delhi, Mar 17 (ANI): Chile President Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday said that her country would support India's bid to get a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Bachelet, who is on a five-day official visit to the country, said India had a great leadership both regionally and internationally and hence should be on the Security Council.

"We believe that India has great leadership not only regional, but also internationally. That is why, we support India as a permanent member of the Security Council in the reform of the United Nations system," said Bachelet.

Talks have been going on to expand the powerful five-nation UN permanent Security Council and accommodate newer member countries.

India vies for a place amongst the member nations that form the UN permanent Security Council.

During her visit, Bachelet is expected to sign a number of agreements and MoU's on trade, agriculture, technology, education and energy.

"In the bilateral arena, we have had great trade exchange. We need to increase our exchange in education, innovation, technology, agriculture, energy and so on. We are going to sign some MoU's and some agreements, in order to advance in the bilateral cooperation. We are also expecting to have an exchange of point of views about the global crisis right nose.

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be at the G-20, we believe that it is very important leadership that India will continue playing in that role," Bachelet added.

During her stay, Bachelet will meet President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Dr. Mohammed Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani.

She is accompanied by a high-level delegation, including the Minister of Agriculture and Women Empowerment and a business delegation.

Bachelet will also visit Agra, Mumbai, and Chennai.

The last state visit from Chile was undertaken by President Ricardo Lagos of Chile in January 2005.

Chile's trading agreements can help India to access other markets in South America. Chile also has free trade agreements with Canada, US, Mexico and the European Union.

Bilateral trade between India and Chile expanded from US 586.65 million dollars n 2005-06 to US two billion dollars in 2007-08.

According to the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the bilateral trade between the two countries is estimated to cross US five billion dollars by 2014. (ANI)