Author: Pranab Dhal Samanta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 16, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/322949.html
Introduction: Key to getting India into UNSC
was a consensus in the African Union on a phased expansion plan. Pakistan
Foreign Ministry's official correspondence shows how Beijing and Islamabad's
"top priority" was not to let it happen - and they succeeded
New Delhi has obtained "documented evidence"
of Beijing acting in concert with Islamabad to stall India's efforts for a
permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
India, Brazil, Germany and Japan (referred
to as G4) were looking to renew their bid last year after a UN panel had suggested
immediate UNSC expansion as an "intermediate arrangement" subject
to review after a specific timeframe.
But key to G4's efforts was a consensus in
the African Union (AU) to accept this transitional approach. So the AU Summit
in Accra last year assumed significance given that AU was going by its own
consensus which called for at least two UNSC seats for Africa with full privileges,
including the right to veto.
The G4 was willing to compromise on the right
to veto so as to win support from existing permanent members as well as key
European powers.
It now transpires that China had reached out
to Pakistan in June 2007, days ahead of the Accra Summit, and asked it to
"prevent the AU from adjusting its common ground". The two countries
acted in concert to successfully ensure there was no change in the African
position and that status quo was retained.
This runs in the face of Chinese public position
of maintaining neutrality and telling New Delhi that it "supports India's
aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations, including the Security
Council".
As the G4 was set to lobby at the Africa summit,
the Chinese Ambassador in Islamabad met then Additional Secretary Tariq Osman
Hyder in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry on June 22, 2007. The pre-summit meetings
in Accra were to begin from June 25 and the summit was slated for July 1-3.
A day after the meeting, Hyder wrote a detailed
letter to Iftikhar Arain, the Pakistan Ambassador in Nairobi, who was to attend
the summit, with copies to Pakistan missions in New York and Beijing. In that
letter, Hyder recalled the points made by the Chinese Ambassador at the meeting
and enclosed the list of "talking points" which the Chinese envoy
had been given from Beijing.
According to Hyder's letter, the Chinese Ambassador
had observed: "Recently, the G4 has intensified its internal coordination
and intended to take the opportunity of AU summit and push AU to adjust its
common ground and get it merged with or make it closer to the G4 scheme."
He conveyed to Hyder that the Coffee Club,
also known as United For Consensus (UFC) club - Pakistan, Italy, Argentina,
Mexico and South Korea - should remain alert. "The AU has an overall
impact on the situation of the UNSC reform. The UFC should keep high alert
on these new trends among the AU as well as G4. The AU is more likely to tilt
towards the G4 if it adjusts its common ground. The top priority for us now
us, with utmost efforts, to prevent AU from adjusting its common ground, pushed
by the G4 by using the discussion of transitional approach and the AU Summit
in July".
The details, which are now available through
intelligence inputs with New Delhi, show clear backing of China with the Ambassador
going to the extent of suggesting the strategy to be adopted at the summit.
"The Chinese side suggests UFC consider
taking measures to proactively exert influence on African countries prior
to and during the summit, making them realize that the future of intermediate
arrangement on transitional approach is not yet clear...currently the AU should
remain calm and watch, keep united and maintain common ground. The Chinese
side considers that it is possible to push countries like Algeria, Egypt,
Libya, the Republic of Congo etc to keep coordinated and take the lead in
opposing the adjustment of the AU common ground."
Based on this conversation, Hyder wrote to
Arain with a summary of the points made by the Chinese Ambassador asking him
to remain in close touch with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun
who was to lead Beijing's delegation at the summit. He also gave the mobile
phone numbers of the officials in the Chinese embassy coordinating Jun's visit.
"I briefed him (the Chinese Ambassador)
on the lines of our communication of 21 June 2007 and shared our talking points.
I added that Libya had recently shown signs of some possible change in its
position which merited that particular importance should be given to that
country at bilateral level by all of us...I assured him of close coordination
with our delegation during the summit," he wrote.
Significantly, Libya had voiced support to
India's candidature for UNSC permanent membership during External Affairs
Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit in May and his landmark meeting with Col
Gaddafi.
Three days after the Accra Summit, where the
AU made no change in its position - just as China and Pak had wished for -
Mukherjee visited Ethiopia and, for the first time, floated the idea of an
India-Africa Partnership Summit that finally took place here in April this
year. Japan is now planning to host a similar summit.
