WASHINGTON, Sept. 2: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lobby for making India a permanent member of the Security Council during his maiden visit to the UN General Assembly later this month, South Asian diplomatic sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Briefing journalists on Mr Singh's visit, Indian diplomats in the US capital said that India would actively participate in the debate for reforming the United Nations during the forthcoming session of the General Assembly.

New Delhi wants the 15-member Security Council to be expanded to include India and some other aspirants. Besides reiterating its call for an expansion of the Security Council, India is also expected to call for a balance between the United Nations' peace and security agenda and its development plans. Like several other prominent members of the world body, the Indians also feel that the United Nations is too focused on security and peace-keeping.

In a recent statement Mr Singh underscored the need for restructuring the UN Security Council in the new global regime. "A global order, which is better representative and more responsive to the needs of our times, must include the reform of the United Nations and a restructuring of the Security Council," he said.

Mr Singh supports taking one country from each region as permanent member of the UN Security Council and wants India to represent South Asia. During his visit to New York, Mr Singh is scheduled to hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders, including President George W. Bush, and is expected to discuss India's desire to join the Security Council as a permanent member, diplomatic sources said.

The Indian prime minister is also expected to meet President Musharraf on September 22, but that meeting will focus on bilateral relations. Three of the five permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, France and Britain - are supporting India.

The United States has remained non-committal on the issue. China, the other member, has said it favours a larger role for India in the UN but does not support giving a permanent seat to India in the Security Council.

Officially, the United States supports the secretary general's efforts to explore how the UN can better meet the challenges of today, but does not support any specific proposal. Instead, US officials say they are looking forward to the report of a high-level panel tasked to propose measures for the revitalization of the world body.

Significantly, Germany and Japan, both contenders for a permanent seat in the Security Council, have agreed with India to support each other in this endeavour. Brazil too is backing India.