United Nations, July 29: India will utilise its upcoming presidency of the UN Security Council to re-establish its credentials with political maturity to be a permanent member of the top decision making body, according to New Delhi's top UN envoy.
 "I don't think the process of Security Council reform can be pushed through India's presidency of the Security Council," India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said in an interview with UN Radio on the eve of taking over the UNSC presidency for the month of August.
 But "what we can do is to conduct our presidency in a manner which provides a clear message to all that India is a country which not only has the credentials but the political maturity to supervise the work of the Council and which in turn re-establishes the message that we have the credentials to be a permanent member," he said.
 Asked about India's priorities, Puri said: "Every country, which has the presidency, naturally pursues its own favourite themes or priorities. We are going to deal with peacekeeping" on which there will be an open debate on August 26.
 The envoy said he was particularly worried about the situation in Libya. "With the month of Ramadan, the month of prayer and fasting starting on the 1st of August, we would be happy if there could cessation of hostilities for the month of Ramadan in Libya," he said.
 Puri was "candid enough to admit" that he did not think that India's "presidency will provide a boost to the process of Security Council reform and India's claim for permanent membership".
 Agreeing with the interviewer's assessment that it's quite incredible that a country of India's importance hasn't been on the Security Council for 19 years, Puri said: "Specific reasons for India not having been on the Council have something to do with the manner in which the Council is presently structured."
 "We are hoping to utilise our stay on the Council not only to re-establish our credentials but also to see what can be done for us to have a more enduring presence which, of course, will come through the issue of Security Council reforms," he said noting that the reform process takes place through the General Assembly. IANS

Lastupdate on : Fri, 29 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
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