G4 foreign ministers including S Jaishankar held virtual meeting
Beijing:
China, which has blocked India’s entry into the UN Security Council, said Thursday there were “huge divisions” over reforms to expand the first UN body and expressed its willingness to work for a “comprehensive solution” that can take into account the interests and concerns of all parties.
The G4 group comprising India, Japan, Germany and Brazil on Wednesday expressed concern over the lack of any “meaningful” progress on the long overdue reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) ) and demanded an “emergency” on the matter.
G4 foreign ministers, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, held a virtual meeting coinciding with the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly during which they had an in-depth discussion on the need for urgent reform of the UNSC.
“Unanimous call for text-based negotiations within a fixed time frame. Reformed multilateralism guides India’s approach to the United Nations,” S Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting Wednesday.
Responding to the call by G4 ministers for text-based negotiations with a fixed time to complete UN Security Council reforms, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at the meeting. from a press briefing here that: “We believe that reform of the Security Council is an issue which concerns long-term development and all the immediate interests of its members.”
“There have been huge divisions on this issue and there is no general consensus on the reform arrangement. China is willing to work with other UN members to seek a comprehensive solution that can take into account the interests and concerns of all parties through dialogue and negotiation “. he said.
Wang said the Security Council was “the nucleus of the international collective security mechanism”.
“It calls for reforms to better fulfill its duty enshrined in the United Nations charter. We believe that the reforms should increase the representation and voice of developing countries and enable more small and medium-sized countries to ‘enter the Security Council and participate in decision-making,’ he said.
A joint G4 press release said on Wednesday that ministers underscored the urgency of reforming the UN and updating its key decision-making bodies, to better reflect contemporary realities.
“G4 ministers expressed disappointment at attempts to derail this process and pledged to address the issue meaningfully and with heightened urgency on the occasion of this 75th anniversary of the UN,” the statement said. published by the Department of External Affairs.
In the 75th year of the United Nations, India will begin its two-year tenure as an elected non-permanent member of the powerful Security Council starting January 1 next year.
India has spearheaded decades-long efforts to reform the Security Council, saying a structure put in place in 1945 does not reflect contemporary realities of the 21st century and is ill-equipped to deal with current challenges.
There is broad support, including by four of the five permanent members of the Security Council – the US, UK, France and Russia – for a permanent seat for India on the Council.
China, one of the five permanent members (P5) of the UNSC with veto power, has blocked India’s efforts to become a member of the powerful UN body for years, underlining the lack of consensus although the other four members supported New Delhi’s membership. .
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
