US President Barack Obama has endorsed India's demand for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, underscoring the country's growing clout and putting pressure on its regional rival , US President Barack Obama inviting the world's largest democracy to take its "rightful" place at the summit of global power.
Obama delivered the foreign policy victory to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a landmark address to the Indian parliament.
The move on the Security Council seat, intensifying a haggling process on United Nations reform that could take years, will be seen as an incentive for a government Obama wants to see throw open its markets to US exports in a vast American "job fair".
"The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate," Obama said, making a case that India was already an established global power.
Obama spoke after meeting manmohan Singh and the two sides unveiled a sheaf of economic, environmental and democratic projects to cement one of the "defining partnerships of the 21st century".
His courtship of India, and current tour of Asia, reflect the rapid growth in India's economy and a shift in power to emerging nations as a result of the global financial crisis, which has hit Western powers hard.
While piling praise on India, Obama also challenged it to uphold the democratic ideals to which the former jewel in the crown of the British empire owed its independence and rise to prominence.
Seeking an example, he jabbed his hosts on their record on military-ruled Myanmar, which held elections on Sunday which Obama said were stolen by the ruling junta.
Obama spoke about Pakistan, the key US anti-terror ally but arch-rival of India which accuses it of permitting extremist groups to plot cross-border strikes such as the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.
"We'll continue to insist to Pakistan's leaders that terrorist safe havens within their borders are unacceptable, and that terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks must be brought to justice," Obama said to applause.
He added that though the United States wanted dialogue between the South Asian rivals, their conflicts could be solved by the two nations alone, eschewing any US effort to broker peace talks.
Singh, who enjoys a close relationship with Obama, said the allies would now work as "equal partners in a strategic relationship".
He unveiled 10 billion dollars in trade deals designed to support US jobs and announced the relaxation of export controls on US technology that can be used for military applications.
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