Indian ambassador to visit IU this weekend

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vijay K. Nambiar will deliver a lecture Sunday in Myers Hall arguing for India's place as the sixth permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.\nAmbassador Nambiar has served in the Indian Foreign Service since 1967 and as India's ambassador to China, Afghanistan and Algeria, among numerous other postings.\nDirector of the India Studies Program Sumit Ganguly said India's government desires a seat on the Security Council for several reasons. Kashmir is one very critical issue, Ganguly said.\nIndia and Pakistan are currently disputing the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. Both countries, which have fought three wars against each other since their independence in 1947, maintain troops within the disputed territories along India's northern border. \nGanguly said Pakistan routinely brings up the issue of Kashmir with the United Nations.\nCurrently, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, France and Russia are permanent members of the 15-member council. Each permanent member holds a veto power over resolutions and proposals debated by the international body.\n"If India has a veto, then any attempt to (bring) up Kashmir can easily be squelched," Ganguly said. "A very senior Indian diplomat once told me in New York, 'Give me a veto-wielding seat on the Security Council and we'll give up our nuclear capacity,'" Ganguly said. "Forget the nuclear weapons program, I'll happily trade that in for a veto."\nGanguly said some members of the Indian government see the permanent seat as critical for Indian security. The Indian government bases its claim for permanent member status on its growing economy, size and population, Ganguly said. Currently, India is the world's second most populous country with more than one billion people, according to the "CIA World Factbook".\nThe permanent membership of the Security Council has remained essentially unchanged since the creation of the United Nations in 1945. \n"The permanent membership really sort of freezes an international political order that no longer exists," Ganguly said. "It's a reflection of a world order that is long gone."\nThe office of the Bloomington chancellor, the College of Arts and Sciences and the India Studies Program are all sponsoring Nambiar's lecture. The lecture will be held 2 p.m. Sunday in Myers Hall 130.\nTom Herbert, executive director of development and alumni programs for COAS, helped organize the lecture.\n"Ambassador Nambiar is coming here because of his personal relationship with Sumit Ganguly," Herbert said. "Dr. Ganguly was able to make the initial contact, and then an official invitation was sent out by the university."\n"We're extremely excited about it," Herbert said. "He's a diplomat of the highest stature."\n-- Contact staff writer Paul Musgrave at rpmusgra@indiana.edu.