NEW DELHI, 15 July 2004 — India and Germany have agreed to support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Visiting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who held talks here with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, said both countries hoped they would be able to get permanent seats in the course of broader reforms in the United Nations.
“Germany and India consider both countries to be natural candidates for a permanent seat on an enlarged Security Council and will support each other in this endeavor,” Fischer said at a joint press conference with the Indian foreign minister.
He said there was an “urgent need for an effective multilateral system and an efficient UN system that reflects the realities of the 21st century”.
The Indian foreign minister echoed the views.
“We will work together for reform of the UN. In today’s world if the UN is bypassed or the doctrine of unilateralism takes precedence over multilateralism there is something wrong,” Natwar said.
On a permanent Security Council seat, he said: “If India and Germany work together we can achieve this and we hope to do it in a friendly manner.” The Indian minister said the international public opinion was in favor of “drastic (UN) reform”.
Germany currently holds one of 10 rotating seats but like India and Japan is lobbying for a place with the five permanent members in reforms being demanded by some states which would expand the council to 24 or 26 nations and regional bodies.
Fischer also said that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would be visiting India later this year as part of the annual bilateral summit. He also extended an invitation to Foreign Minister Natwar Singh to visit Germany.
On the ongoing peace talks between India and Pakistan, Fischer wished the two countries well. “Everything should be done to increase the level of the dialogue process,” he said.
On Iraq, Fischer said Security Council resolution 1546, which outlines among other things the formation of an interim Iraqi government, was “a very important development to move forward”. He said the transfer of real sovereignty to a legitimate Iraqi government was crucial but added that Berlin, like India, would stick to its decision not to send troops to Iraq but continue to assist the war-ravaged country in other ways.
