Rasgotra says clamour for UN seat ‘foolish idea’

NEW DELHI - Former foreign secretary M.K. Rasgotra Monday said the clamour for India’s permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was a foolish idea.

Chairing a panel discussion on the political basis of China-India relations as part of a conference organised by the Congress along with the Communist Party of China here, Rasgotra said that talk in the media ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country about a Security Council seat may not be fruitful.

According to Rasgotra, the US president would give India “a lot of words but not a seat”.

Summing up the panel deliberations during which a question was asked about China supporting India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC, Rasgotra said it may take 10 to 20 years for India to get a permanent seat at the high table.

We should have patience… learn from the Chinese, he said, adding that he hoped that China will back India’s case for a UNSC seat as India did for China.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, who was also in the panel, later said that Ragotra’s views were personal.

Tewari said that a UN seat was India’s inspiration and we believe that the United Nations should reflect geo-political realities of the 21st century”.