Pakistan plans to scuttle India’s bid for UN Security Council

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to persuade his Chinese counterpart to oppose India’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council during his visit to Beijing.

Zardari will be in China to attend the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, besides meeting China's President Hu Jintao.

On the surface, Pakistani and Chinese leaders will discuss the plan for a fifth Chinese-built nuclear reactor in Pakistan. But the emphasis will be on new moves on the chessboard of South Asia, especially the Indian bid for UN Security Council membership.

United States President Barack Obama, who was in India on a three-day visit starting last Saturday, gave the country's UN ambitions a fillip during his speech to a joint session of Parliament in New Delhi on Monday, saying Washington would back the country's claim for a permanent seat in the Security Council.