Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit next week, Britain today came out in support of India’s claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council but sans veto power, even as New Delhi made it clear that it opposed selective or piecemeal reform of the world body.‘‘We have extended full support to India to become a permanent member of the Security Council without veto power.“At present five permanent members have veto powers, and if we extend it to four more countries it will make it difficult,’’ British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said at a joint press conference with External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh after their talks here. —PTIMukherjee, Rice meetWASHINGTON: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee began his nine-day US tour, meeting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Mukherjee is here at the invitation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in the wake of the US agreement on cooperation with India in matters relating to defence hardware. —PTI
