U.S. President George W. Bush met with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh Thursday for talks on economic issues, energy and strategic cooperation, the White House said. The meeting took place ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit in July to the United States as Washington and New Dehli work to strengthen ties, Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said. Foreign Minister Singh later met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who described India as a global power but did not say whether Washington will support India's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council. "The United States wants to be supportive of what we see as a positive trend in India's global role because India is a democracy and that matters to us," Rice said. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, as part of a proposal to reform the United Nations, has called for the restructuring of the Security Council. Rice said changing the Security Council must take place in "the broader context of U.N. reform". Singh maintained that because India has played a significant role in the United Nations and has been a member since the beginning, his country deserves a permanent seat on the council. "Take any aspect of U.N. life, India has played a leading role, and by any criteria that you apply, India qualifies for a seat in the expanded council as permanent member," Singh said.
