Straw in New Delhi on Friday. (Reuters)

New Delhi, Feb. 18: India?s strategic partner Britain today made it clear that while it actively supported the Indian candidature for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Delhi must come in without a veto power.

At present, all the five permanent members of the Security Council ? the US, Britain, France, Russia and China ? have veto powers. But though the UK has been actively supporting India?s entry into the elite body, it has now made it clear that Delhi and the other new members will have to accept the fact that they will not have the veto power.

This position was made clear by visiting British foreign secretary Jack Straw this evening.

?We favour an expansion of the Security Council to include as permanent members Germany, Japan, Brazil and India,? he said while delivering a lecture at the Ficci auditorium on the Indo-British parliamentary forum.

But while responding to a question, he made it clear that India and the new members will not have veto powers.

?We support option A which clearly states that the new members in the UN Security Council can come in without veto powers,? the British foreign secretary said. He argued that if nine new members ? as has been proposed by the high panel of the UN on the expansion of the Security Council ? enjoy veto powers, it will be a difficult situation to handle.

Straw?s remarks this evening are likely to create a fresh controversy. Russian President Vladimir Putin?s ambiguous remark had led to some heartburn among the Indian leadership. Later, he had hurriedly explained that Russia supported India?s entry into the Security Council with full veto powers.

Publicly, India may not acknowledge any attempt to water down its likely position in the Security Council but, in private, a section of the Indian leadership has already started preparing for the eventuality.

Convict pact

India and the UK today signed an agreement on the transfer of prisoners and renewed an accord for return of illegal Indian immigrants from the UK. Under the pact on the transfer of sentenced persons, a request may be made by them or a person entitled to act on their behalf in view of their age or physical or mental condition to serve the sentence in their own country.