India should not give up its quest to become a permanent member of the Security Council, United Nations Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor said on Wednesday.
"It will take some time. India should realise that the threshold for amending the charter is very high," Tharoor, who unsuccessfully contested for the post of UN Secretary General, told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session in Kochi, Kerala.
An amendment to the charter cannot be easily done, he said.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan had suggested that other options should be explored and that is for the Indian government to decide, he said.
On the UN remaining a 'mute' spectator in Sri Lanka, Tharoor, speaking
to students in an interactive session, said the UN was monitoring the situation. United Nations agencies were helping the displaced Tamils in the Island nation though, right now, the UN was not involved in the peace process or diplomacy, and had no troops on the ground, he said.
In Sri Lanka, the government and the LTTE have preferred to seek Norwegian help in the peace process. India also supports the Norwegian efforts, he said.
When asked whether the UN was not a 'puppet' in the hands of the US, Tharoor said that the world body as an organisation was a 'mirror of the world.'
"It is good to have such an organisation where there are big and small nations as members. Universality of UN is a great strength," he said.