'UNSC seat no cakewalk'

The government yesterday said it would not be a "cakewalk" for India to get a permanent seat in an expanded United Nations Security Council.

This prompted Left ally CPI-M and the BJP to enquire whether it was due to the lack of support from developing nations as a result of New Delhi's tilt towards the US.

Responding to supplementaries during question hour in Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh asserted that India shared good relations with all countries, and had sent special envoys to mobilise support in this regard.

He said G-4 countries comprising Germany, Japan, Brazil and India, should be credited with putting forward the UNSC reforms, including the expansion of the security council, on agenda of the UN.

He said India had agreed to a membership in UNSC without veto power for 15 years, as a beginning had to be made in this direction.

Earlier, Minister of State for External Affairs, Rao Inderjit Singh, in response to a query on the issue, said "despite our best effort it is possible that nothing will happen", and that getting a permanent seat at UNSC would not be a "cakewalk".

Former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha asked Natwar Singh whether the observation of his minister of state reflected a sense of despair on the part of the government in its quest for a UNSC permanent seat.