The Hindu : International : Not yet time for a stand on India's bid at U.N., says China

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 12, 2005

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International

Not yet time for a stand on India's bid at U.N., says China

P.S. Suryanarayana

Different countries have put forward different plans

SINGAPORE: China has said "it is not the time yet to make a stance on the relevant countries' bids for permanent members" of the United Nations Security Council. The "relevant countries" in focus are India and Brazil.

This categorical position was outlined by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a press conference in Beijing this week.

At an earlier press conference, also in Beijing, Mr. Liu had said that the Group of Four, consisting of not only India and Brazil but also Germany and Japan, acted "hastily" in framing a draft resolution for consideration by the U.N. General Assembly in regard to their efforts to become permanent members of the Security Council and other aspects of reform of the global organisation.

Mr. Liu's latest answer, with a specific nuance for India and Brazil, was in response to a question whether China, which had expressed a wish to raise the representation of developing countries in the Security Council, would now support these two countries for permanent membership of the forum.

Mr. Liu said: "Different countries have put forward different plans [on U.N. reforms], such as the one by the Group of Four, the one by the Like-Minded Countries, and some ideas raised by other countries.

The reform of the U.N. bears on the interests and concerns of all parties as well as the direction of the Security Council's development in the future. The U.N. member-countries are still quite divided upon this important issue [and are] far from reaching a consensus on the relevant plan".

It was against this background that China would not reveal its mind, at this stage, on the credentials of individual aspirants such as India or Brazil. The spokesman, however, reaffirmed in the same breath China's enduring preference for "increasing the representation of developing countries in the U.N. Security Council".

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