From left, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi; Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; and German Vice Chancellor Joschka Fischer, in New York on Sept. 21. (Photo: AFP)

New York : India says more and more countries have expressed support for its candidature for permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council following talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and world leaders.

Singh met U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on Sept. 21 as well as attended a meeting of the pressure group of four nations –– that includes India, Japan, Germany and Brazil –– eager to get a permanent place in the top U.N. body.

All four countries feel they are the most qualified to take their places at the high table in an expanded Security Council, along with a representative of the African continent, and see it as an inevitable consequence of present day power dynamics.

Leaders of the four countries, who met on the margins of the General Assembly session, said the reforms were imperative for effective functioning of the world body in future and that keeping the permanent membership as an exclusive preserve of five countries –– the U.S., Britain, Russia, France and China –– was an anachronism.

“The Security Council must reflect the realities of the international community in the 21st century,” said a joint press statement issued after the four-nation meeting.

“It is essential that the Security Council include, on a permanent basis, countries that have the will and capacity to take on major responsibilities with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security.” Later, Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told Indian journalists: “In terms of demography, contributions to peacekeeping or abilities at furtherance of the objectives of the U.N., India more than fulfills the criterion.”

Saran, however, would not disclose how many countries were opposed to India’s candidature, and if Pakistan was one of the leading opponents of the move.

“There is no link between our permanent membership and the Kashmir issue,” Saran told a questioner who asked him if Pakistan was linking support for India to a resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Saran said India opposed any other formula that fell short of the demands of the four countries. Among the ideas in circulation are to make the permanent membership of more countries, besides the present permanent five, rotational among selected nations or to create a new category of semi permanent members without veto powers.

“Any reform that perpetuates the present exclusivity of certain countries won’t work,” Saran said.

For some reason, India does not think it is an opportune moment to bring up the subject with the U.S., the country whose thinking would finally lend weight to the decision. “We’ll take it up with them when the time is appropriate,” said one official.

Singh did not bring up the issue during his 60-minute breakfast meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush, and one official admitted that he felt the time was not appropriate for such a move. The prime minister had said before his departure from New Delhi as well as while speaking to journalists accompanying him on his trip that India had “strong claims” to permanent membership of the world body and making it happen was one of his missions.