New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil on Friday
said reforms in international bodies like the United Nations
should be initiated with a sense of urgency and India has full
credentials to be a permanent member of the Security Council.
Accepting the credentials of six newly appointed envoys
for India at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Patil said for
dealing effectively with global challenges, the agenda for
reforms of international bodies and multilateral financial
institutions should proceed ahead with a sense of urgency.
She said India has full credentials to be a permanent
member of the UN Security Council.
The President also referred to the constructive
contribution of the Indian diaspora to countries in which they
live.
Welcoming the envoys, Patil observed that this group of
ambassadors presenting credentials was "gender balanced" as
empowerment of women was an important global objective and
also an important national objective in India.
The envoys who presented their credentials were-- Mohamad
Sharari El Bakheit El-Fayez, Ambassador of Jordan, Jan
Handerson, High Commissioner of New Zealand, Theresa Cutajar,
High Commissioner of Malta, Chandradath Singh, High
Commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago, Pierre Vaesen, Ambassador
of Belgium and Karen Tan, High Commissioner of Singapore.
The President conveyed her condolences to the New Zealand
envoy on the lives lost in the recent earthquake in that
country.
She said that natural disasters remind the international
community of the need to continuously focus on developing
robust early warning systems and disaster preparedness.
The President referred to issues like financial
stability, food security and terrorism which also require
collective global action.
PTI
