United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday supported the call for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform to make India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan permanent members of the Security Council. His remarks came as the UN General Assembly decided to roll over the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on Security Council reform to its next session which India termed as “yet another wasted opportunity”.
Opening the Chatham House London Conference, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly made a speech stating his five transnational priorities. Cleverly said his first priority was reform of the United Nations Security Council.
“We want to see permanent African representation and membership extended to India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan. I know this is a bold reform. But it will usher the Security Council into the 2020s. And the UNSC has grown before – albeit not since 1965,” he remarked, as quoted in a transcript.
Prior to it, he said he values the leadership of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in championing the agenda of wider UN reform.
“It seems obvious to me that the voice of the poorest and most vulnerable countries must be heard at the heart of the multilateral system. That’s why we support permanent membership of the G20 for the African Union and welcome India’s leadership on taking this forward,” he added.
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India On UN General Assembly’s Rollover Decision
The UN General Assembly Thursday adopted a draft oral decision to continue the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly that will commence in September. The rollover decision marked the end of the IGN for the current 77th session.
India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj stressed that the roll-over decision of the IGN simply cannot be reduced to a mindless technical exercise.
“We see this technical rollover decision as yet another wasted opportunity to instill a breath of life into a process that has shown no signs of life or growth in over four decades,” Kamboj said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
She said India joined the consensus in the adoption of the draft presented, simply to acknowledge the personal efforts of Csaba Korosi, President of the 77th session of the General Assembly and remarked that it is now apparent that the IGN could well go on for yet another 75 years without any progress whatsoever in the direction of genuine reform in its current form and modalities – that is, without application of the GA Rules of Procedure, and without a single negotiating text.
“As a responsible and constructive member of the United Nations, India will, of course, continue to engage in this process alongside our reform-minded partners, and persist with our efforts to move from repetitive speeches to text-based negotiations. However, for those of us who truly wish to fulfil our leaders’ commitment towards an early and comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council, looking beyond the IGN looks increasingly to us as the only viable pathway to a future UN Security Council that would better reflect the world of today,” she said, as quoted by PTI.
Referring to the roll-over decision, Kamboj said that as the only formal General Assembly outcome that emerges from this process each year, it must also evolve and reflect the progress achieved during Member States’ deliberations during the year.
India has been pitching for a permanent seat in the expanded membership of the UNSC, arguing that the existing body does not truly reflect the contemporary world realities.
Four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have supported India’s candidature for a permanent seat in the top world body.
At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the UN.
The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France, and the United States and these countries can veto any resolution.
There has been growing demand to increase the number of permanent members to reflect the contemporary global reality. India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Japan are strong contenders for permanent membership of the UNSC which has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
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