US president Barack Obama's endorsement of India's candidacy for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council would have been enthusiastically received in Delhi - and applauded as a correct political move in Washington, where it has bipartisan support – but, inevitably, it has caused ripples in diplomatic circles around the world.

A predictable response was from Islamabad, India's regional rival, where the establishment warned the United States against engaging in ''power politics.''

The endorsement received a guarded response from Germany and Brazil, two other members of G-4, a body of four nations including India and Japan, which are campaigning to be co-opted as permanent members of the Security Council, along with the Big Five.

So far the august body has five permanent members - the United Kingdom, Russia, France, China and the United States of America, who technically wield the power of a 'veto'- a symbol of much value. The Security Council has ten non-permanent members who are elected every two years on a rotational basis.

Foreign ministers of Germany and Brazil welcomed the move saying it reflected wider support for reform of the UNSC, which included their own aspirations of joining the Security Council as permanent members.

Speaking in Berlin, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed president Barack Obama's endorsement of a permanent UN Security Council seat for India. Asked whether Obama's endorsement was a blow for Germany - which is yet to receive any such endorsement from the US - Westerwelle said, 'On the contrary, it would have surprised me if the US president had not used his visit to make such an overture to India.'

In Maputo, Mozambique, the Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim welcomed the US support for India's bid for a permanent seat on the Council, but asked for the inclusion of other emerging nations.

"It is very positive that president Obama mentioned India because that shows that he has an open mind in relation to developing countries," Amorim told reporters.

"But apart from that, any reform of the United Nations can't be done with only one country," he said.

He was speaking during a two-day visit to Mozambique by outgoing Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a stop en route to this week's G-20 summit in South Korea.

"I am very happy for India, which is a good partner of Brazil," Amorim said.

"The fact that he is mentioning India by name, that the US are accepting a developing country, pulls the door open for other big emerging countries like Brazil or others in Africa."

Even as Germany and Brazil made use of the opportunity to gently remind the US of their own claims to a seat at the high table, others have not been so graceful.

The Uniting for Consensus group, perhaps better known as the Coffee Club, has reacted with predictable intensity to the American endorsement of India's candidacy, expressing ''serious concern.''  The group said the endorsement would complicate the reform process.

An informal group of about 40 nations, the Coffee Club comes together to oppose any possible expansion in the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council and advocates expansion only in the non-permanent category. Its core membership includes nations such as Italy, Pakistan, Argentina, Mexico and South Korea, all of whom are opposed to their regional rivals such as Germany, India, Brazil and Japan.

Diplomatic sources indicate that Coffee Club members will try and meet the president of UN General Assembly, Joseph Deiss of Switzerland, on Wednesday to convey their concern over the US announcement of support to India's bid for permanent membership of the Council.

The Group is also likely to take up the matter with US representatives at the United Nations. During the Coffee Club's meeting, Pakistan's acting ambassador, Amjad Hussain Sial briefed the members about his government's stand.

In Islamabad, a foreign office spokesman Pakistan hoped the United States would not be swayed by ''power politics'' in its support for a permanent seat for India.

''Pakistan believes that US endorsement of India's bid for its permanent seat in the Security Council adds to the complexity of the process of reforms of the Council.''

The upcoming G-20 meet at Seoul may also provide an occasion for murmurs about the US move to endorse India as all members –candidates and those opposed – will be present there.