india

Updated: May 21, 2019 17:09 IST

India must have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council as its absence hurts the credibility of the UN system, Germany’s new Ambassador to India Walter J Lindner said Tuesday.

Lindner presented his credentials to President Ram Nath Kovind in Hindi on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after presenting his credentials, Lindner said the G4 grouping -- India, Germany, Japan and Brazil -- is fighting for the enlargement of the Security Council permanent membership. “India must have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council...India with 1.4 billion people is not yet a permanent member, this is unheard of. This can’t go on like this because it hurts the credibility of the United Nations system,” he said.

At present, there are five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US.

The German envoy also said that his country was supportive of the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar at the UN as a global terrorist.

“We were in close contact with India and other nations (over the listing). We will continue to work on this (anti-terror) cooperation because terrorism has to be removed from the surface of this planet,” he said.

Asked about the prospects of working with the Modi government if it comes to power, Lindner said he does not want to answer hypothetical questions and would like to wait for the outcome of the polls.

“It is such a great country, whoever will win will continue the great relationship with Germany. We are happy to work with whoever Indian people elect and in two days we will know who that is,” he said.

On whether EVMs were more suited or ballot papers, especially keeping in mind the European experience, he said: “Whatever system you seem to be working seems to be a very good one.” Asked about the Iran nuclear deal and the US sanctions, Lindner said Germany is a strong supporter of the nuclear agreement with Iran because it keeps the country away from a nuclear weapon.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)