US should back India as permanent member of UNSC: Burns

The United States should support India as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, former Bush Administration's point man for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal said on Wednesday.

"India should be a permanent member of the Security Council. The US should support it," former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said in his opening remarks at a discussion on Indo-US relations in Washington.

This is for the first time, someone as influential as Burns has come out in support of India getting a place in the Security Council as a permanent member.

So far the US has only endorsed the case of Japan as permanent member of the UNSC. Burns in his speech also supported Brazil for the same.

Identifying India as an emerging regional and global power, Burns, now a Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, said India and the US can play a major role in shaping the future of the world by working together.

The discussion was organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in association with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Referring to the last week's speech of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a meeting of the US-India Business Council last week, Burns exuded confidence that the Indo-US relationship is poised to move ahead during the Obama Administration.

The former US Ambassador to India, Richard Celeste also spoke on the occasion, besides FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra, and FICCI president Harsh Pati Singhania.