NEW YORK: India, Japan, Germany and Brazil have declared themselves as “legitimate” candidates for permanent membership of the UNSC as they pushed for its reform in a “fixed timeframe”, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the task should be accomplished immediately.
Hosting a Summit of leaders of Germany, Japan and Brazil under the G-4 format here, he said the UN Security Council “must include the world’s largest democracies, major locomotives of the global economy, and voices from all the major continents” to carry “greater credibility and legitimacy”.
He said the four countries are ready to assume global responsibilities as he pressed for change, saying the world body reflects the mindset of a century “we left behind” and is not in tune with “new concerns” like terrorism and climate change.
It will make it more representative and effective in addressing the challenges of the 21st century, he said at the Summit meeting with Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the first since 2004.
Modi noted that “some movement” had been seen recently in the decades-old endeavor when the UNGA took the “significant step” to commence text-based negotiations on the reforms but said it has to be taken to its “logical conclusion” during the current 70th session of the global body.
In a joint statement later, the G-4 leaders stressed that “a more representative, legitimate and effective Security Council is needed more than ever to address the global conflicts and crises, which had spiraled in recent years.”
They strongly emphasized that the process underway in the UN to bring about the reform of the Security Council should be conducted, given its urgency, in a fixed timeframe.
The leaders emphasized that the “G-4 countries are legitimate candidates for permanent membership in an expanded and reformed Council and supported each other s candidature.”
The G-4 “noted with concern that no substantial progress had been made since the 2005 World Summit where all the Heads of State and Government had unanimously supported early reform of the Security Council as an essential element of the overall effort to reform the United Nations.”
Leaders of the 11-year-old grouping, which has been jointly pushing for UNSC reform and their entry into it as permanent members, “expressed determination to redouble their efforts towards securing concrete outcomes during the 70th session of the General Assembly”.
They felt that legitimate reforms can be “achieved by reflecting the realities of the international community in the 21st century, where more member states have the capacity and willingness to take on major responsibilities with regard to maintenance of international peace and security.”
The four nations pledged to work together with all member states and to accelerate outreach towards achieving an “early and meaningful reform” of the UNSC, the joint statement said.
They supported Africa’s representation in both the permanent and non-permanent membership in the UNSC, while noting the importance of adequate and continuing representation of small and medium sized member states, including the small island developing states, in an expanded and reformed Council.-PTI
