A country intending to find a place as permanent member in the expanded United Nations Security Council will have to meet certain criteria like responsibility, size and importance, a top US official said in New Delhi on Thursday but stopped short of accepting that India had fulfilled the essentials.
Shirin Tahir Kheli, senior advisor to the US Secretary of State on UN reforms, said some development was hoped to be witnessed in the coming month with respect to the reform of the world body.
Kheli, who is in New Delhi to hold talks with Indian leaders and officials on the UN reform process, said lack of vote among G-4 countries (India, Brazil, Japan and Germany) in July had stopped progress on the issue in July.
"The process of reform is a package and expansion of the Security Council is a part of it," she said at a talk on 'A
Common Agenda on UN reforms'.
She said the US supports expansion of the Security Council as it realised that contemporary world is different from the one when the world body was founded in 1945.
"But the question is how much expansion now. While updating the body, it has to be ensured that it does not lose its effectiveness," Kheli said.
She said the US had expressed its support for Japan for permanent membership of expanded Security Council as it was one of the largest contributors to the UN and played a leading role in all UN programmes.
"Beyond that, we have offered criteria. These include a country's activeness, responsibility, size and importance (in the world affairs)," the US official said.