G-4 bloc seeks credible talks on UNSC reform
India and other G4 nations on Friday called for starting a “credible” text-based negotiations which adequately capture all positions expressed to reform the outdated United Nations Security Council.
Japan, India, Brazil and Germany — commonly known as G-4 — are seeking expansion of the permanent and non-permanent seats of the Security Council. They support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
“Let us not lose time and energy in discussions and repetition of positions which do not take our work forward,” Germany’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Christoph Heusgen, told the first meeting of the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) on the “question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters”. He was speaking on behalf of the G-4 countries.
Heusgen said an overwhelming 85% of member states — or 164 countries — have demanded to begin text-based negotiations. “We need a text that can be negotiated. A text which adequately captures all positions expressed, Heusgen said, urging co-chairs to facilitate these negotiations.
“We need to look at all positions in a holistic manner, and let’s be frank, in a political manner. Because we all know: this is not technical discussion. This is not an academic exercise. This is a political discussion. One which should be based on give-and-take and negotiations,” he said.
“So let’s not tiptoe around this fact, but let’s confront it head-on — and, if we are serious about the credibility of this process, then
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we need to get going,” the German ambassador said.
He also called on the IGN Co-chairs to develop their own text to be presented at their next meeting. “Such a text should be based on the work done by us, member states, in the previous years reflected in the documents listed in decisions of the General Assembly relating to IGN.
“Focusing our discussions on a text is the only way we can do justice to our responsibility and the wish of the General Assembly to achieve an early reform of the Council,” he said. In such a text, the positions of all the groups should be duly and comprehensively reflected, he said.
The structure of the Security Council, created 70 years ago, must take into account new ground realities of the 21st century, or else it will affect the credibility and relevance of the world body, UN General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak said as he called for out of the box ideas to get it done.
“We need a Security Council adapted to today’s world. And that is not merely a technical, or procedural task. It relates to the lives of people. It affects the credibility and relevance of the General Assembly, which established this process. And, it puts the entire United Nations system at stake,” Lajcak said in his address.
The world it was created to protect is unrecognisable today, he noted. “The Council must reflect these changes. It must take into account new realities. Throughout our years of negotiation, no one has challenged, or questioned, the need for reform. Which is why we can say, we need a credible process leading towards a meaningful outcome,” Lajcak said.
“Another thing we can say, for certain is that we know what does not work. We know what will not drive us forward. Repeating wellknown positions. Drawing red lines. Calling for flexibility from others, without giving any ourselves,” he said.