Portugal backs India's claim for U.N. seat

By Alok Mukherjee

LISBON, JUNE 29. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today wound off his two-nation, five- day foreign tour with an assurance from Portugal that it would support India's candidature for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

Following the summit meeting with the European Union (EU) here on Wednesday, the bilateral part of Mr. Vajpayee's Portugal visit began with consultations with his counterpart here, Mr. Antonio Guterres, and other dignitaries of the Portuguese Government. After the meeting, the two leaders addressed the media where Mr. Vajpayee said he had discussed the issue of expansion of the Security Council and the need for developing countries to be on it. Mr. Guterres, on his part, said ``India's claim for a permanent membership of the Security Council deserves our full sympathy,'' and replied in the affirmative when asked whether this consideration would translate into reality.

India and Portugal also decided to consolidate their economic and political linkages by maintaining a continuity in the high-level dialogue and mutual interaction. The Prime Minister and the President of Portugal have been invited to visit India at mutually convenient dates and regular consultations would be held between the foreign offices of the two countries.

On the economic front, the two countries signed the fourth agreement pertaining to bilateral investment promotion and protection. Earlier, an agreement on avoidance of double taxation, on cooperation in science and technology and one on economic and industrial cooperation were signed. The bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement was signed by the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha and his Portuguese counterpart Mr. Jamai Gama.

During the bilateral discussions, the two sides had a ``very useful exchange of views'' on recent regional and global developments of mutual relevance. The issue of terrorism was discussed in detail and India and Portugal agreed to cooperate at multilateral for developing an organised and collective strategy for defeating this scourge.

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