India hopeful of getting non-permanent seat in UNSC

KOLKATA: India is hopeful of getting the non-permanent Asian seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said on Friday.

"We expect to be a non-permanent Asian seat in the UNSC when the elections take place in October 2010," Tharoor said on the sidelines of a symposium on 'Role of UN in a changing world' here.

Tharoor, a former under-secretary of UN, said India is actively campaigning among the 192 member states to get their support for the seat.

The only other country in the fray is Kazakhstan. The elections would be held in the General Assembly of the UN where all the 192 member states would vote.

To a query, he said India's chance of getting a seat in the UNSC would not happen overnight, but possibly after institutional reforms which the international organisation needs to undergo.

India's voice was being heard in the UN and the country had been a major contributor in the fields of financial, humanitarian and peace-keeping, he said.

"India wants to see UN to recognise the contribution of the country," Tharoor said, adding that geo-political clout was the real clout in the the body rather having a financial influence.

India had been non-permanent member of the UNSC five times earlier.