India, Vietnam call for UN reform, UNSC expansion

World Saturday 03/September/2016 21:58 PM
By: Times News Service
India, Vietnam call for UN reform, UNSC expansion

Hanoi: India and Vietnam on Saturday called for a reform of the UN and an expansion of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, with enhanced representation from developing countries.
The two nations stressed on the need for reform of the UN Security Council in a joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc here.
"Both Vietnam and India stressed the need for reform of the United Nations and expansion of the UN Security Council in both the permanent and the non-permanent categories of membership, with enhanced representation from developing countries," the joint statement said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed gratitude for Vietnam's consistent support to India's candidature for permanent membership of a reformed and expanded UNSC.
"The prime ministers reaffirmed support for each other's candidature for non-permanent membership of the UNSC, Vietnam for the term 2020-21 and India for the term 2021-22.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at the conclusion of the Programme of Cooperation in UN Peacekeeping Matters," the statement said.
The Indian side expressed its commitment to capacity building and training to enable Vietnam's participation in UN peacekeeping operations, it said. India and the US have been calling for freedom of passage in the international waters, much to the discomfort to Beijing, whose claim over South China Sea was recently struck down by an international tribunal in favour of the Philippines.
China has also objected in the past to India's Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) undertaking exploration at the invitation of Vietnam in the SCS, which is believed to be rich in undersea deposits of oil and gas. "Our common efforts will also contribute to stability, security and prosperity in this region," Modi said.
He described his talks with Vietnamese counterpart as "extensive and very productive" and said they covered the full range of bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
"We have agreed to scale up and strengthen our bilateral engagement. As two important countries in this region, we also feel it necessary to further our ties on regional and international issues of common concern," said Modi, who is here on a day-long visit.
"We also recognised the need to cooperate in responding to emerging regional challenges," the prime minister said, without naming any country. Vietnam has shown a keen interest cooperating with India in air and defense production. India's L&T will build offshore high speed patrol boats for Vietnamese Coast Guards, while a pact was signed on cooperation in UN peacekeeping matters.
Indian Navy and Vietnam Navy will cooperate in sharing of white shipping information. Modi said as the two important countries in this region, India and Vietnam feel it necessary to further their ties on regional and international issues of common concern.