2018 could be India’s best shot at UNSC membership
WASHINGTON : Twenty-five years after the UN General Assembly proposed expanding the elite Security Council, countries advocating changes are looking forward to what believe is their best shot yet.
L-69, a group of developing countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, announced on Monday it will compile “The handbook on Security Council Reform: 25 years of deliberation”, to help along discussions that will start in January 2018 under a newly elected leadership.
Monday marked the 25th year of a resolution passed on December 11, 1992 that started the process of expanding the membership of the Security Council by seeking comments from member nations, a process that could have led to something called the “Text” to kick off negotiations.
The resolution, co-sponsored by India, was titled, “Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council”.
“No progress has been made since despite the many meetings and papers and documents exchanged,” a UN diplomat said. There is still no “Text” that could form the basis for negotiations.
India, Japan, Brazil and Germany have formed the G-4 to campaign for an expanded Security Council that would include them, and to speed up the process blocked by countries that see the creation of a “Text” as a defeat.
L-69, the group behind the current push, intends to push for a “Text”, said the diplomat, to record observations from those for and against the expansion of the Security Council, encouraged by recent developments reflecting the new-found clout of the General Assembly.
India’s claim to a permanent seat on the Security Council has been endorsed by four of the five permanent members — China is the exception — but it has found itself shortchanged by lack of progress on the issue.