New Delhi: Making a pitch for an expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and for including India in it, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh today (Oct 6, 2004) said the world body was frozen in time and it was necessary to make it more representative keeping in view contemporary realities.

"The existing structure of the Security Council is reflective of the world of 1945. It needs a revamp to make it more representative of the world of 21st century," he said while delivering a lecture on 'India's Policy Towards West Asia'.

Singh said he had taken up the issue of expansion in New York with the 15-member committee set up by the UN to deliberate on the issue of revamp of the world body.

"For example, the population of India in 1945 was 38 crore, while it is over one billion now. Similarly, the population of the Muslim world at that time was 40 crore, while now it is 1.3 billion. We cannot be ignored," the Minister said.

He also scoffed at the detractors of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), stressing that it was relevant even today, but called for setting a new agenda for the movement in keeping with the current global challenges.

"To those who ask me why NAM is important today, I ask in return why NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) continues to be important although the USSR is no more. What is required is a change in the agenda of NAM so that the member nations can jointly fight the new challenges of terrorism, environment degradation, AIDS and financial issues."