US working hard for India's permanent seat in UNSC

"And to that specifically, I'm referring to India," US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told foreign media here. "We need to just give it time to realise that the world has evolved."

Referring to President Barack Obama's November visit to India, he said: "You've seen the President's trip last fall, which was, we thought, very important in developing that strategic partnership. It's something we'll continue to build on."

Asserting that the US will work diligently and forcefully to push for reform of the top decision making body of the United Nations, Hammer said: "The UN no longer reflects some of the realities of today. And therefore, we'll continue to work on that."

"We are looking to have UN Security Council reform," he said describing it as one of the top priorities on the Obama Administration's foreign policy agenda.

"We have, as it was made clear, the (US) President announced in our visit in India our support for India in the UN Security Council," Hammer said.

Hammer, however, cautioned that the UN reform may take some time.

"We also recognise that these reforms take considerable effort and time," he said and that's something that the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice "will be working on very diligently and forcefully over the coming months".

From the outset, Hammer said, Obama had placed a high priority in terms of trying to re-establish and reassert American leadership and standing around the globe.

"We have begun to develop new partnerships to address the global challenges that we all face and common interests that we share," he said. "This was highlighted by the efforts that the President and other world leaders have within the G-8 and then into the G-20."

Hammer said this has "proven quite effective in addressing the international financial crisis, which is a key concern not only to the American people, in terms of the economy, but also globally."

"And I think that that's key in terms of one of the major accomplishments in terms of where we are today," he said.