Dubai, July 1 : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that African countries should decide among themselves as to who should be their representative in the United Nation Security Council in the permanent and non-permanent categories.

Speaking during a brief stopover on his way to Cairo, the Indian Foreign Minister said that he would try to ascertain the views of Egypt on UN reforms. “We have taken a position that representation of African countries must be decided by them”, Mukherjee told the ANI.

“We are of the firm opinion that Africa needs to be represented in both permanent and non-permanent categories,” he said. .

Speaking about his visit, the minister said his visit was the first visit by an Indian Foreign Minister in last seven years to Egypt. It was important visit bilaterally as also politically and economically .

The trade between the two countries has grown from seven million dollars to over 2.2 billion dollars.

Pranab Mukherjee would be meeting his counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues. He would also be calling on President Hoshni Mubarak to reiterate India’s invitation to him. Egypt will be hosting the 25th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in July next year.

Mukherjee will spend three-days in Egypt to hold wide-ranging of talks to strengthen bilateral relations. (ANI)