Russia for a permanent seat for India in an expanded UN Security Council

Moscow, Dec 16 (PTI) Russia today backed India's bid for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council as well as its aspirations to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security grouping. Moscow, one of the five veto-wielding members of the UNSC and one of the founders of the SCO, expressed its support in a joint declaration issued after the 12th annual India-Russian Summit between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin. In their joint statement, both Medvedev and Singh underscored that the UNSC reform should be carried out in such a way as to make it "more representative and effective" in countering the existing and new challenges. In this context, Moscow is for giving New Delhi a permanent seat in an expanded UNSC, the Kremlin said. PTI