New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) India’s bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for 2011-12 term got a boost with Republic of the Congo being the latest country to declare support for New Delhi.
Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo Basile Ikouebe met Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor Wednesday and discussed an entire gamut of bilateral relations, including the scaling up of economic ties between the two countries.

“Republic of Congo assured India of its support for a non-permanent seat for the term 2011-2012,” the external affairs ministry said here Thursday.

A protocol on Foreign Office consultations was signed by the two ministers after the talks.

“Both sides agreed to speed up formalities for concluding several other institutional mechanisms for bilateral cooperation,” the ministry said.

Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo Brazzaville, is a French-speaking country in central Africa with a population of 3.7 million people.

In 2008, oil sector accounted for 65 percent of the GDP, 85 percent of government revenue, and 92 percent of exports.

Ikouebe was among scores of political leaders from Africa who participated in the sixth India-Africa business conclave earlier this week.

The conclave ended on an upbeat note with the two sides discussing projects worth $11 billion and declaring their intention to scale up bilateral trade from $39 billion to $70 billion by 2015.

A large number of Asian and African countries have already declared support for India’s bid for the non-permanent seat for 2011-12 term.

If India wins the seat, it will be the first time in nearly two decades that it will occupy a seat on the Council.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has 15 members, including five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, of which two are from Asia.

Each member of the council has a vote, while only the five permanent members can veto a resolution.