Permanent seat in the UNSC for India a foolish idea: Rasgotra

NEW DELHI: Dubbing India's ambition of a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council as a "foolish idea", former Foreign Secretary M K Rasgotra on Monday said the dream may take 20 years to fulfil.

Chairing a panel discussion on the political basis of Sino-India relations here, Rasgotra, who is a member of Congress' Foreign Affairs Department, said, "I think we have a fetish about permanent seat in the UNSC...it is a foolish idea. I don't know who has floated it."

The discussion was part of a day-long programme on 'China and India: 60 Years and Beyond' organised by the Congress party and Communist Party of China.

He said the fulfilment of India's quest for a permanent seat in the UNSC was 10 years, "possibly 20 years away".

The former Foreign Secretary was responding to a question on whether China supports India's bid for a permanent seat.

He said while newspapers were abuzz with speculations that US President Barack Obama will support India's bid in the UNSC, Rasgotra claimed that the dignitary will not give us a permanent seat though he "will give us a lot of words".

According to him, the seat will come to India when the world recognises India as a major power and a military power.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari, who was one of the panelists, later said the views expressed by Rasgotra were personal.

"These are not the views of the Congress party...a permanent seat remains an aspiration. The UNSC should reflect the geo-political situation of the 21st century," Tiwari said.