Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs met United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday night and discussed a wide range of international matters, including the Iran issue.
Sharma told Annad that India has a strong case for permanent membership of the expanded UN Security Council. He said he was confident New Delhi would occupy its rightful place on the powerful panel.
India is for wider UN reforms to enable it to meet the challenges of the current century, he told reporters after the half-an-hour meeting. On the Iran issue, he said the Indian position favours resolution through negotiations rather than punitive action.
Asking the United Nations and the international community to move beyond providing emergency assistance to developing nations struck by disasters, Sharma said countries should be helped to build their capacities to enable them to 'mitigate the effects and manage their own responses' to such crises. Earlier, Sharma announced a $2 million contribution on behalf of India for the fund.
"Development cannot be sustainable unless disaster mitigation is built into the development process at all levels. The international community has to maintain its focus beyond emergency relief and support the medium and long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction and risk reduction efforts of the governments of affected countries," he said.
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