The Obama Administration should endorse India's membership to a permanent seat in the UN Security Council during the state visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scheduled next week, a noted American scholar said on Wednesday.
"The Obama administration should announce its support for a permanent seat for India on the United Nations Security Council during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the White House next week," eminent scholar Ashley J Tellis, a senior associate in the Carnegie South Asia program, said.
Carnegie contends that though it may not produce any immediate results, the bold declaration would highlight the growing importance of New Delhi to Washington, and the Obama administration’s recognition of the evolving global power.
"This announcement would be utterly consistent with the US president’s own emphasis on multilateralism, and would acknowledge a reality that is simply inevitable in the current scenario, providing Washington with the diplomatic advantages of supporting New Delhi well before its membership became inescapable," Tellis argued.
Tellis said that though India shares American concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it has not been asked to do much about the Iranian program.
The Obama administration should persuade New Delhi to pressurise Tehran to remain engaged in international negotiations, in hopes of achieving a peaceful resolution, he said. "Obama’s nuclear security summit next year, will be a golden opportunity for the United States and India to collaborate on universal nuclear security standards, but New Delhi will need to overcome its misplaced anxieties about discussing its nuclear program in public," Tellis said.
On climate change, he said the United States should give India access to priority technologies that could reduce its emissions growth.
"India is not yet convinced that it can play an important role in combating climate change, and does not want to jeopardise its economic growth," he said, adding that economic progress and sustainable development are compatible, as little-noticed programs by the Singh government have proven.
