"The Secretary-General recognises and believes very strongly that there was a need to reform the Security Council to reflect better the world we now live in," Ban's spokeperson Martin Nesirky told reporters.

Member states had to work out how to reform the council. They (Member States) are obviously still some way from reaching agreement, he added.

"The Secretary-General's view is that reform is necessary; it's for the member states to decide on the scope and the time frame for those changes," Nesirky said, a day after President of the UN General Assembly Joseph Deiss scolded the international community for the lack of progress in reforming the Security Council despite two decades of efforts.

Addressing a conference in Rome, Deisss had said that "unless we find the determination to advance on this issue, the United Nations would lose its credibility."

"Is there no way to overcome the divisions and to forge a win-win compromise that would be acceptable for a broad majority of Member States?" he asked.

The 15-member UN Security Council currently has five permanent and 10 non-permanent seats.

India is currently serving a two-year term as a non-permanent member, which will begin in June 2011.

The five permanent members are — the US, the UK, China, France and Russia.
India is an aspirant for a permanent seat on the Council.