By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
Davos : French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is visiting India this week, told an Indian business delegation that he will lobby for their country to be inducted as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the leader of the delegation said Wednesday.
“He is even more upbeat than (British premier) Gordon Brown,” Sunil Bharti Mittal, president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), reported in Davos after meeting Sarkozy in Paris Tuesday.
The 11-member high-powered business delegation met Sarkozy at Elysee Palace before coming here.
Sarkozy referred to India as the “Future of the World” and said it is a great nation of the 21st century, which like all great nations will have duties and responsibilities to render to world society.
Referring to the controversial statements made by French government leaders during Indian steel tycoon Laxmi Mittal’s takeover bid of Arcelor, Sarkozy said that was in “pre-Sarkozy era,” Mittal told reporters.
The team also discussed the opportunities in the auto industry in India and the need for France to make an iconic investment. The business delegation acknowledged that a new chapter in Indo-French relations was expected with Sarkozy at the helm in France. There were discussions on building synergies between SMEs.
Sarkozy is visiting India for two days Jan 25 and will be the chief guest at the country’s Republic Day celebrations. His visit follows that of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who also endorsed India’s aspirations to be a permanent member of the Security Council.