New York: The foreign ministers of G4 countries –India, Brazil, Germany and Japan –on Wednesday (local time) underlined the urgency of reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in order to make it more “legitimate, effective and representative”.
The Foreign Ministers of the G4 countries: India’s S Jaishankar, Brazil’s Carlos Alberto Franco Ranca, Germany’s Heiko Maas, and Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi met on the sidelines of the 76 sessions of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.”With G4 Foreign Ministers (@heikomaas, @moteging, Carlos Franca), sent a clear message on the need for reformed multilateralism. Called for concrete outcomes in a fixed timeframe,” Jaishankar tweeted.
The ministers issued a joint statement following the meeting in which they reaffirmed that it is indispensable to reform the Security Council through an expansion of both categories, permanent and non-permanent seats, to enable the Security Council to better deal with the ever-complex and evolving challenges to the maintenance of international peace and security, and thereby to carry out its duties more effectively.
“The Ministers underlined the urgency of reforming the Security Council in order to make it more legitimate, effective and representative by reflecting the reality of the contemporary world including developing countries and major contributors,” the statement noted.In this context, the Ministers expressed their strong support to the Common African Position (CAP) as enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
The G4 Ministers reiterated their support for each other’s candidatures as aspiring new permanent members in a reformed Security Council, the statement noted.The ministers also expressed their strong determination to work towards launching text-based negotiations without further delay in the Intergovernmental Negotiation framework or IGN, on the basis of a single document, with a view to its adoption in the General Assembly.
“The Ministers instructed, to this end, their delegations to the United Nations to support the efforts of the President of the 76th General Assembly and the Chair(s) of the IGN and to identify ways to develop a single consolidated text as a basis for a draft resolution.
The Ministers decided to intensify dialogue with all interested Member States, including other reform-minded countries and groups, in order to seek concrete outcomes in a definite time-frame,” the statement noted.