§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy on India's gaining a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council; for what reasons this policy has changed; and if he will make a statement. [123727]
§ Mr. HainWe are committed to early enlargement of both the permanent and the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council, including the creation of a new permanent seat for the Asian regional group. We continue to maintain that it would be for the Asian group to decide who would occupy any permanent seat allocated to them. India would clearly be a strong contender. Our policy on this is unchanged.