Mukherjee hopes India will figure in expanded UNSC

President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed hope that India will figure in the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC) when reforms of the world body are undertaken.

Briefing reporters on board while returning from his five-day visit to Sweden and Belarus, the President said that both countries have been supportive of India's claim for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

"Both (Sweden and Belarus) have reiterated (their support) but there is a procedure of the reforms of the United Nations...So as and when the security council is expanded, we can expect that India's case will be considered very favourably," he said.

Mukherjee also said that various countries have expressed desire that India should be a permanent member of the UNSC.

Answering questions of reporters about his speeches in the two countries where he highlighted the threat posed by terrorism, the President said, "we have mentioned about terrorism but every country has their own perception and in the UN when these issues are debated, they express their view.

"But there is an overall desire of the international community to fight this menace. There may be differences in modalities and other things but no country supports terrorism openly."

Terming his deliberations in both the countries as successful, Mukherjee said the state visits were reflection of the renewed emphasis that India places on further enhancing our partnership with these two countries.

"I took the opportunity to brief both leaderships on the economic situation in India as well as about policy initiatives of the government," he said.

India and Sweden signed six intergovernmental agreements, covering cooperation in the fields of urban development, medium and small-scale enterprises, polar research, civil nuclear research and medicine. Seventeen MoUs were further signed between educational institutions, think tanks and the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries.

In Belarus, five agreements and MOUs were signed, covering cooperation in textiles, standardisation, capital markets and broadcasting.

A focused and substantive Roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation was also agreed, which identifies specific areas for closer interaction in the days ahead. 

While Sweden is an important partner with whom India has shared multi-faceted and mutually beneficial relations over several decades, Belarus is a key partner in the wider Eurasian region with many strengths.

The focus in Sweden was to strengthen bilateral economic ties and to provide impetus to cooperation in specific areas from Sweden, which is one of the top three innovative nations in the world as well as a leader in smart urbanization, transport and waste management, green technologies, renewable energy, health, education and research, Mukherjee said.

"I found a significant convergence of mutual interests and a genuine deep-seated desire for closer cooperation. Sweden expressed its support for our membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime," he said.

Sweden was silent so far about India's bid to enter this 34-nation group that seek to prevent the proliferation of missile and unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

He said Swedish Prime Minister Stefen lofven readily agreed to a suggestion that "we seek to enhance our bilateral trade to USD 5 billion in the next three years. The Swedish side also expressed their keenness for the conclusion of negotiations on the India-EU Trade and Investment Agreement."

"I also announced Government of India's decision to grant Swedish nationals e-tourist visa. This, along with signature of an Agreement on Diplomatic visa waiver, will facilitate travel between the two countries and boost people-to-people ties," he said.

The President said he also interacted with heads of leading Swedish multinationals and they were uniformly upbeat about their prospects in India.

About his visit to Belarus, Mukherjee said he held wide- ranging discussions with President Alexander lukashenko and they agreed that time had come to elevate India-Belarus ties to a higher trajectory, building on the enormous potential in trade and investment, defence cooperation, science and technology as well as educational and academic linkages.

Mukherjee said he had suggested his counterpart a four- fold framework for enhanced cooperation comprising regular political and institutional dialogue, rapid increase in commercial and economic interaction, a paradigm shift in defence cooperation towards joint research, design and manufacturing as well as wide-ranging expansion of Science and Technology.

President lukashenko responded positively to the proposals and underlined that Belarus considered India a partner of choice as well as a reliable and loyal friend, he said.

Mukherjee also conveyed the decision of the Government of India to grant Market Economy Status to Belarus, which had been a long-standing request of the Belarus side.

"This decision would open up new avenues for bilateral trade as well as facilitate the integration of Belarus in international trade structures. India will also extend a new line of Credit of USD 100 million to Belarus for implementation of mutually agreed joint projects, thereby further deepening our economic ties," he said.