Blair backs India on expanded UN Security Council 

Reuters
September 8, 2005
The Peninsula (Qatar)
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=September2005&file=World_News200509081110.xml 
NEW DELHI: India said yesterday it had not given up hope of securing a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council despite opposition from some countries to expansion. 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in India for an EU-India summit, backed New Delhi’s bid saying the current make-up was out-dated. 
India, along with Japan, Brazil and Germany, known as the G4, are all lobbying for a permanent place on the council, which decides on matters of war and peace, sanctions and peacekeepers. 
“It’s a fact that some countries are not in favour of the G4 resolution that we sponsored,” Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a news conference with Blair. 
“But I’ve also been assured that opposition to the G4 resolution does not necessarily imply opposition to India’s claims and India’s place on the expanded Security Council,” Singh said. “We haven’t given up and I sincerely hope we can still sort out this issue.” Blair, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the bloc was split over the council’s expansion. “There isn’t a common European Union position, obviously the UK’s position has been strongly supportive of India,” he said.