- VIENNA: Austria’s president has suggested his country backs India’s efforts to get a permanent UN Security Council seat.
Heinz Fischer says India “deserves a strong position in the Security Council” as the world’s biggest democracy and its second-most populous nation.
India has for years pushed for a permanent place in the council. Its five permanent seats are now occupied by the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain — the five original nuclear weapons states.
Fischer spoke Wednesday on the occasion of a state visit by Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. She says the Security Council “needs to be restructured to reflect the contemporary realities.”
