By IANS
New Delhi : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday again extended support to India’s bid for a permanent place on an expanded UN Security Council and to “India’s rightful place” in a new world order.
Delivering his keynote address at a breakfast event hosted by India’s leading business chambers at the Taj Mahal Hotel here, Brown – on a two-day India visit – said more must be done “to make our global institutions more representative”.
“And I support India’s bid for a permanent place – with others on an expanded UN Security Council.
“And I support changes to the IMF, World Bank and the G8 that reflect the rise of India and Asia,” he said.
Shortly after arriving here Sunday afternoon, Brown had said: “India should become a member of the UNSC”. He went on to say that “there is no future for any economic bloc that does not include India”.
In a major policy speech, the dignitary, who arrived Sunday, referred to India’s growth story: “In just 15 years you have doubled your national income, doubled your share of world exports, and lifted 20 million people out of poverty.
He proposed the creation of a “global climate change fund”, to be built on Britain’s international environmental transformation fund of $1.6 billion.
The initiative, which will operate within the World Bank Clean Energy Investment Framework, will finance carbon investment, sustainable forestry programmes, adaptation and climate-resilient development in the poorest countries, he added.
From the breakfast meeting, Brown headed to the presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan where he was ceremonially received by at the forecourt by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He also went to Raj Ghat to lay a wreath at the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi.
In a day packed with events before the delegation level talks at Hyderabad House, which will be followed by one-on-one discussion and the signing of documents, Brown also visited Delhi University where he was conferred with an honorary degree by Vice Chancellor Deepak Pental.
He announced the launch of a UK Sports Initiative at the university sports ground.
The post-lunch session witnessed the start of talks with top Indian leaders, beginning with a call by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and opposition leader L.K. Advani.
His wife Sarah had a separate itinerary with a visit to a maternal health centre in Nangloi in northwest Delhi.
She would be joining her husband in late afternoon for a formal call on the President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The busy day rounds off by a state banquet that marks the end of the visit. Brown will board a plane for London at about 9 at night.