United Nations/New Delhi, Sep 26 (UNI) The G4 countries of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil, underscored that the expansion of membership of the UN Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent categories is essential to the world body’s reform, and that this position is supported by a majority of the UN Member States.
This was affirmed during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Mauro Vieira, Foreign Minister of Brazil, Johann Wadephul, Foreign Minister of Germany, and Iwaya Takeshi, Foreign Minister of Japan, on the margins of the 80th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on Thursday.
They met to discuss prospects for reform of the UN Security Council. The G4 Ministers emphasized that, amid increasing instability in the international order and with the UN—the center of multilateralism, increasingly incapable of fulfilling its role—it is crucial to reform the Security Council at the earliest to truly reflect the contemporary geopolitical realities, thereby enhancing its representativeness, legitimacy, effectiveness, and efficiency, a joint statement said.
Stressing on the need for expansion of the UN Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent membership, the G4 Ministers concurred on the need to enhance the role and participation of developing countries, and those significantly contributing to international peace and security, in the Security Council, in both membership categories.
They reiterated the importance of improving the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, in both membership categories.
The G4 Ministers reaffirmed their strong support for the Common African Position (CAP) as enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. A comprehensive reform of the Security Council is in the best interest of all, they said and reiterated their mutual support for each other’s candidacies as new permanent members of a reformed Security Council.
Reviewing the work of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, the G4 Ministers reiterated their strong concern over the continued absence of concrete progress on UNSC reform in the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) format.
Against the backdrop of the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations, the G4 Ministers expressed their intention to cooperate closely among themselves and in partnership with other groups, taking into account the urgent need for reform, with a view to developing a consolidated model, leading to text-based negotiations.
The G4 Ministers reiterated that discussions on Security Council reform need not be confined to the IGN and expressed their willingness to engage with the wider UN membership on this issue in other forums, including the UN General Assembly.
EAM Jaishankar said in a post on X: “Glad to join the #G4 Foreign Ministers Meeting along with colleagues Takeshi Iwaya, Johann Wadephul and Mauro Vieira in New York today.
“G4 reiterated its commitment to reforming the United Nations including the UN Security Council. It also assessed the current state of the Inter-Governmental Negotiation #IGN process.”
