Bush: India 'in mix' for expanded U.N role

NEW DELHI, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- India is "in the mix" of possible countries to join the United Nations Security Council if it expands, former U.S. President George W. Bush says.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times Leadership Initiative, Bush said, "India will be part of the mix" if the Security Council expands, but warned it will be a difficult political process, the newspaper reported Saturday.

The main barrier, the former president said, is not whether India would be qualified for a seat but mustering the political will within the United Nations to make the Security Council bigger.

"We seriously considered expanding the (United Nations) in, I think, 2006," the Times quoted Bush as saying. "Condoleezza Rice, then U.S. secretary of state, began serious discussions on the issue. But when we talked to other countries, we got blowback."

He said there was no doubt the Security Council should be expanded.

"The Security Council should be changed given the new realities of the world," Bush said. But, he added, the politics is difficult," citing Japan and regional powers such as Brazil and India as good possibilities.