India has called for immediate phasing out of sanctions against Myanmar. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said at the United Nations that the international community should extend all possible support to Yangon's new civilian government to help speed up economic development in the country which had faced economic isolation under years of military rule. He said, as a close and friendly neighbour of Myanmar, India remains committed to extending all possible assistance and support to the process of national reconciliation and further strengthening of democracy in Myanmar.

He said, India is also working closely with Myanmar on various infrastructure and development cooperation projects, with particular attention to capacity building and human resource development.

Meanwhile, the President of Myanmar Thein Sein has said he would accept the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a future elected president if the people vote for her. He said the will of the people would be respected whoever they chose in an election due in 2015. Thein Sein, a former leader of the military junta that ruled Myanmar for decades, has overseen a dramatic shift towards a civilian-led government.

Minutes after the Security Council approved a resolution expanding the number of UN cease-fire observers, Syria said it was ready to facilitate the UN monitors. But it stressed that a majority of them should be from neutral countries like BRICS, that also includes India. Syria's Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud told a group of Indian journalists visiting Syria that his country also stressed that while it was committed to the UN-backed peace plan, the Western powers wanted it to fail due to their own agenda.

Earlier, the UN Security Council voted to deploy upto 300 observers in Syria to monitor cease fire and help implement a peace plan agreed to by the Syrian government. The deployment of the UN Observer Mission will be for three months. The UN vote was unanimous despite western concerns about Syria's failure to comply with the truce. After the vote in New York, the Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaffrey said it was essential that the observers should not take sides.

There are already 30 observers in Syria. The UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon had earlier said that 300 observers would be required to monitor the ceasefire and implementation of six point Kofi Annan Peace Plan effectively.

Reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism is high on the agenda of discussions in the two-day nuclear security summit The World leaders at the summit will review the progress made since the first nuclear security summit held in Washington in 2010. Over 50 Heads of States and Governments are participating in the summit. 

They include U.S. President Barack Obama, his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani apart from Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Heads of international organisations like U.N., IAEA, European Union and Interpol were also participating in the summit. 

the Prime Minister's summit reports from the venue that the U.S. President and the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh exchanged pleasantaries at the beginning of the summit. The South Korean President is hosting a dinner in honour of visiting dignitaries