Britain on Friday said it would back India's efforts to gain a permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council and the issue is expected to come up during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's talks with his British counterpart Tony Blair next week.

British High Commissioner to India Michael Arthur told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram: "Our strong support is there to India becoming a Security Council member."

"Your prime minister and our prime minister are going to talk soon. The two prime ministers will agree to take the relationship between the two countries to a higher level of structured cooperation,"  he said.

He said Britain saw India as an important partner in a wide spectra of areas. The high commissioner said Britain had identified six strategic areas of international cooperation for the next 10 years and India figured in all of them.