The United States should support India's bid for a permanent United Nations Security Council seat and work actively for the expansion of the top multilateral body, former American diplomat Karl Inderfurth said on Thursday.

"It is time for the US to publicly support India's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and to work actively with India and others to accomplish the goal of expansion of the UNSC," he said while addressing a session on 'Future Direction of US Relations with India and the Region'.

Inderfurth, who served as Assistant Secretary of State in the Bill Clinton [Images] administration, said the US should take these steps keeping in view India's thriving democracy, its billion plus population, its expanding economy and its longstanding contributions to UN peacekeeping.

He made it clear that the strengthening of the Indo-US ties should not be a part of the China containment strategy and the American focus should be on promoting a US-India-China cooperative triangle.

"China containment policy would be a great mistake. The US has to engage both the countries on their merit," Inderfurth said after releasing a book America's Role in Asia brought out by The Asia Foundation.

He suggested that one way to further a closer and cooperative relationship between the US, India and China would be to make these two South Asian powers formal members of an expanded G-8.

India and the US should cooperate in their efforts to stabilise Sri Lanka [Images], Bangladesh and Nepal in their endeavour for a prosperous, stable and democratic South Asia, he said.