British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called yesterday 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 II, such as the UN, 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 UN 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 UN Security Council as it is enhanced and reformed," Mr Brown told a news conference later yesterday.

Mr 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 worth of contracts with India were under negotiation in the energy, aviation and technology sectors.

Mr 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 suggested there should be rapid response teams of police and experts that could move quickly to restore order and begin rebuilding after conflicts. He said Britain would play a leading role in efforts to speed up nuclear disarmament "and to ultimately achieve a world freer from nuclear weapons".

London would also press for early agreement on a new international system to help non-nuclear states acquire new sources of energy, he said.

Mr Brown believes the rapid spread of the credit crisis last year, after problems with US sub-prime mortgages, points to failings in global financial supervision which must be fixed.