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Nambiar: India has to do more for a U.N. seat

Mumbai: A permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council has eluded India despite its relentless efforts as it has not adopted a broader role in settling international issues, a senior official of the world body has said.

“India is not doing enough to become a permanent member of the Security Council. Instead of demanding it, India should play a more participatory role in world affairs,” Vijay Nambiar, Chief of Staff to the U.N. Secretary-General, told PTI here.

Acknowledging the country’s large contribution of troops for the U.N. peacekeeping efforts, he said: “However, India’s role has to go beyond providing peacekeepers. It has to see a broader role for itself by being actively involved in discussions and settlement of major economic and political concerns including human rights and environment-related issues.”

Mr. Nambiar, who was earlier India’s permanent representative to the U.N., said: “India has to take an active part around the world. It should not be interested only in its own national interests … It should be willing to work out a larger commitment for serving global interests.”

It was not for the U.N. to have expectations from its member-states.“At the Stockholm Conference in 1972, Indira Gandhi had spurred a whole new dimension to deliberations on the environment when she spoke of poverty as the greatest polluter and set the tone for a global challenge of competing ideas and options on the preservation of our planet,” Mr. Nambiar said. — PTI

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