India wins non-permanant Security Council seat (Lead, changing dateline)

UNITED NATIONS - India will take a seat on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member after a gap of nearly two decades, winning the Asian seat Tuesday with 187 of the 191 votes in the United Nations General Assembly poll.

With Kazakhstan withdrawing from the race in January, India became the sole candidate from the Asian region and its election to the non-permanent seat had become a near certainty.

India last held a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council in 1992.

South Africa and Colombia also won the African and Latin American seats for a two-year term on the powerful decision making body starting Jan 1, 2011.