NEW DELHI, Sept 30 — India and Germany today staked their strong claim for permanent membership of a reformed and expanded United Nations Security Council.

Jointly addressing a specially convened press conference here, the German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer and the External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh said India and Germany were not “competitors” and would work together for the enlargement of the UN Security Council.

To a question, Mr Jaswant Singh said that “India has already said we are ready to accept the responsibility in an enlarged UN Security Council.”

Mr Fischer said India was one of the key players in the world in the 21st century and “will be one of the key elements of a stable world order”. India’s permanent membership would not only be in New Delhi’s interest but in the interest of the UN Security Council, the German Foreign Minister pointed out.

On the issue of resumption of bilateral aid, Mr Fishcher said there would be no delay in resumption of development assistance to India which was suspended after Pokhran II. The process for resumption of aid had been initiated, he said.

When pressed about a specific date for the resumption of bilateral assistance, Mr Fischer said no specific date could be given as there were internal procedures involved and the aid component was a part of the federal budget.

The German minister said Germany’s readiness to resume development assistance was part of the ongoing process of improving ties with India.

Germany was the second largest donor of developmental assistance to India after Japan rendering 400 million DM aid annually.

While Mr Jaswant Singh described his talks with Mr Fischer as “fruitful and productive”, the latter said, “we have a broad common stand on problems and issues.”

Asked to state Germany’s view on Indian concerns on cross-border terrorism, Mr Fischer said while his country was for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem, “terrorism is unacceptable”.

Terming the Lahore peace initiative by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee as a “very courageous step”, the visiting minister said Germany fully supported a peaceful solution to bilateral problems between India and Pakistan.