UK supports India's bid for permanent membership of UNSC

NEW YORK: Britain today backed India's bid to get permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

The support came at a meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his British counterpart William Hague who met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today made a powerful call for early reform and expansion of the UN Security Council "to reflect contemporary reality".

After meetings of the G-4 countries including India, Brazil, German and Japan pushing for reform of the UNSC in which India wants to be a permanent member, the Prime Minister said the world needed a stronger and more effective UN.

Krishna and Hague also discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and exchanged notes on Libya, Syria and reform of the UNSC.

They also talked about the upcoming meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) in Perth in Australia in October.

Asked about the planned meeting of Krishna with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here on Monday, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told reporters that it will be a review of bilateral relations and where the two countries were going forward.

"We will look at all elements of bilateral relations and economic ties. There has been a good meeting of the CEOs from the two countries and some useful recommendations have been made," Mathai said.

The two countries will look at what other steps need to be taken to advance commercial operations.