New Delhi: Austria on October 7 extended its full support to India to enable it secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

This was conveyed by Vice President of the Lower House and Member of the Austrian Parliamentary delegation Heinz Fischer to Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed in New Delhi.

Welcoming the delegation, Sayeed said that India wanted to improve her relations with Pakistan for which Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had initiated a number of steps and there was a need for since reciprocation from Islamabad.

Fischer said that Austria was impressed by India's democracy, economic development and the foreign policy. There was a lot of scope for further improving the bilateral relations between he two countries, he said.

Stating that India has accelerated development in a number of fields, especially in information technology (IT) sector, Sayeed said there is ample scope for enhancing trade ties with Europe especially in IT sector.

PTI