Insisting that the UN Security Council faced a democratic deficit, India on Sunday said it was the 'most deserving candidate by any criteria' for a permanent membership of the world body and talked about renegotiation between the G-4 and the African Union on the issue.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh said the democratic deficit in the world body will remain till India was made its permanent member.
Addressing a conclave of India-Africa Project partnership, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh said the composition of the Security Council had remained the same (five) although the membership of the United Nations had grown from 54 in 1945 countries to 192.
"So there is democracy deficit in the UN.... Take any criteria, India is the most deserving candidate (for permanent membership) and without us, it will continue to have democratic deficit. Without us, it will remain the UN of 1945 and not reflect the contemporary world," he said.
He said the G-4, comprising India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, should enter into renegotiation with the African Union while saying 'absence of permanent representation for Africa on the Council is a travesty that cannot be allowed to perpetuate indefinitely'.
Maintaining that India and the African Union needed to stand together, Singh asked Africa to 'move quickly in terms of its own position on UN reform so that we do not lose the window of opportunity that is currently available till the end of this year'.
