'Security Council seat top priority for India'

Securing a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council is India's top priority for the year and it seems "eminently doable" with India putting a concerted effort, Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri has said.

India had decided to run for a Security Council seat for the year 2010-2011 in 2006 and has been canvassing for the spot for the past three years. Early in 2010, Kazakhstan withdrew from the electoral race leaving with India with a clean slate.

"The priorities for India have really suggested themselves. Our efforts have been to ensure that we get elected. On that front, we're almost there," Puri told PTI. India's candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council have been endorsed by the Asian Group in the UN General Assembly.

Nineteen countries including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh spoke in favour of giving India a spot on the Security Council table starting Jan 2011 at a meeting in New York.

"We had tied up the required degree of support... We now have one procedural requirement which is to formally be elected in October and that seems eminently doable," Puri said.

The Security Council is made up of 15 states -- five permanent members who have the veto power and 15 non-permanent seats elected for a two-year term. To win, India needs two-thirds of the General Assembly vote, which adds up to about 128 counties saying yes to India's presence in the Security Council.

Even before Kazakhstan dropped out, diplomats here estimate that 122 votes were in India's bag but now that it is the sole runner from Asia, more votes are expected. Running after more than a decade, India has orchestrated a long campaign led by Puri, who has campaigned locally in New York and at multilateral events at the United Nations.

The last time India had a seat at the Council was in 1992. In 1996, Japan won with India trailing behind with approximately 40 votes. Last year, the General Assembly elected Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to serve as non-permanent members. Puri highlighted Security Council reforms and getting an international treaty on terrorism as two other top priorities for India at the UN in 2010.