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India should not become UNSC veto power, says Robert Blackwill

Daily Times Monitor

NEW DELHI: Former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill said on Tuesday that it was difficult for India to get permanent membership of the UN Security Council given its impression of a country “involved in huge oil and food scandals”, SANA quoted Kashmir Times as reporting.

Mr Blackwill said if India was given the status, “other similar economies will also want the same and the Security Council will end up becoming virtually non-functional”.

Mr Blackwill, who is also the former US deputy national security advisor, was addressing a meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He said the Bush administration’s new cabinet viewed India as an important strategic partner for the US.

He said both countries shared a lot of common values such as both practiced democracy, loved freedom and were in the fight against terrorism and hence both countries should understand these complementarities and work harder for improving bilateral relations.

Mr Blackwill also expressed reservations about the proposed sale of F-16 fighter jets by the US to Pakistan, as the latter had not stopped cross-border terrorism, reported Pioneer News Service on Tuesday.

It quoted him as questioning, “Why should Washington transfer these jets to Pakistan when it has not stopped sponsoring cross-border terrorism?”

“Saying that the sale would compromise India’s air power superiority as the F-16 models that Pakistan was seeking were nuclear-capable, he asked, ‘Can these not be used against India?’,” the news service reported.

“The former ambassador, considered close to President George Bush, said US military sales to Pakistan should take into full consideration India’s security concerns,” it added.

Mr Blackwill also commented on India’s nuclear status vis-a-vis the US, saying India was and would remain a nuclear power, but it would never be a threat to US security.

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