Brown calls for shakeup of world institutions

By Adrian Croft

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Monday for an overhaul of global institutions to counter financial crises, deal with new priorities such as climate change and recognise the rise of new powers like India.

In a wide-ranging speech, he said the international institutions formed after World War Two, such as the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), had to be radically reformed to fit the new, globalised world.

He said he supported India's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, where Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States have wielded exclusive veto power since 1945.

"I'm in absolutely no doubt that a country of a billion people, that is the largest democracy in the world ... should have a place in the U.N. Security Council as it is enhanced and reformed," Brown told a news conference later on Monday.

Brown is on an official visit to India drumming up support for business with the growing economic powerhouse, which is also increasingly playing a more important diplomatic role in Asia.

A British government source said around $10 billion (5.1 billion pounds) worth of contracts with India were under negotiation in the energy, aviation and technology sectors.

Brown called for changes to the IMF, World Bank and the Group of Eight leading industrial countries to reflect the rising economic clout of India and Asia in general.

He proposed turning the IMF into an independent watchdog that would form the heart of a global early warning system against financial turbulence.