By IRNA,
New Delhi : India’s place in the world is of great importance since the time of first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, said Shashi Tharoor.
Speaking to reporters after assuming charge on Friday as the Minister of state for External Affairs, Tharoor (pictured) said that India’s place in the world is of great importance and he would like to contribute towards strengthening the honoured place that India has been having since the time of Pandit Nehru.
In reply to a question on pursuing India’s case for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Tharoor said that the government has very clear policies on the issue and he will be good and faithful servant of these policies.
Author, peace-keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist and now a political candidate for the Indian parliament, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience.
He was India’s candidate to succeed United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2006, and finished a close second out of seven contenders.
His UN career began in 1978 at the United Nations, where he joined the staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva.
Over the years, he has held various key responsibilities, including in peace-Keeping after the Cold War, as a senior adviser to the Secretary-General, as well as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.
Tharoor left the UN on 31 March 2007.
Meanwhile, his colleague, in the Ministry of external affairs, the Minister of state Praneet Kaur, who also assumed office on Friday said that India wants to have good relations with its neighbours but it will not tolerate terrorism or sheltering of terrorists.
In reply to a question on the violence in Punjab as fallout of attack on the leaders of Dera sect of Sikh community in Vienna, Praneet Kaur said that the issue was handled very well by the government and the situation is coming back to normal.