British prime minister Gordon Brown on Monday announced support for India's candidature for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, saying there have to be more representatives of the new global order.
"I am pleased to announce that we support the membership of India in the United Nations Security Council and reforms of the Security Council for the future," he said addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi.
"We have agreed that it is in the interest of both our countries and the world that international institutions should be reformed for the modern era. They need to be equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century and to ensure that there are more representatives of the new global order," he said after extensive talks with Dr Singh.
Dr Singh said he did not underestimate the difficulties that arise in reforming the global institutions, "But we have to try," he said. India, he added, was engaged now in 'an essay in persuasion'.
Dr Singh said international institutions should be representative of the world. He expressed hope that more and more people would see that a Security Council which does not have India on the high table will not have general acceptance.
There is a broad agreement that India and China cannot be ignored by international institutions to grapple with contemporary challenges.
Brown said India should assume its 'rightful place' in the world bodies, including the Security Council. On a two-day maiden visit to India, Brown said the two countries have reached a common ground on the need to reform the international institutions.
Brown said India and Britain have agreed that the World Bank should be reformed to give it an environmental focus.
The two countries also agreed on improving the working of the International Monetary Fund and on giving the United Nations a greater role in its stability and reconstruction activities.
Brown said the relationship between the two countries is based on common history, shared values and personal friendships formed over the years.
The British prime minister announced that his country will pump in 825 million pounds into the country on developmental projects during a three-year period. Of this, a major chunk of 500 million pounds will be spent on education and health, he said.
"We have deepened our partnership on development," he said.
