India has full credentials to be a permanent UNSC member: Prez

NEW DELHI: President Pratibha Patil on Friday said reforms in international bodies like the United Nations should be initiated with a sense of urgency and India has full credentials to be a permanent member of the Security Council.

Accepting the credentials of six newly appointed envoys for India at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Patil said for dealing effectively with global challenges, the agenda for reforms of international bodies and multilateral financial institutions should proceed ahead with a sense of urgency.

She said India has full credentials to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The President also referred to the constructive contribution of the Indian diaspora to countries in which they live.

Welcoming the envoys, Patil observed that this group of ambassadors presenting credentials was "gender balanced" as empowerment of women was an important global objective and also an important national objective in India.

The envoys who presented their credentials were-- Mohamad Sharari El Bakheit El-Fayez, Ambassador of Jordan, Jan Handerson, High Commissioner of New Zealand, Theresa Cutajar, High Commissioner of Malta, Chandradath Singh, High Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago, Pierre Vaesen, Ambassador of Belgium and Karen Tan, High Commissioner of Singapore.

The President conveyed her condolences to the New Zealand envoy on the lives lost in the recent earthquake in that country.

She said that natural disasters remind the international community of the need to continuously focus on developing robust early warning systems and disaster preparedness.

The President referred to issues like financial stability, food security and terrorism which also require collective global action.