Inter-Governmental Negotiations Meant To Obtain UNSC Reform, Not Infinite Debate: G4 Nations

G4 countries – Brazil, Germany, Japan and India have campaigned for a reformed UN Security Council

United Nations:

The G4 countries Brazil, Germany, Japan and India have stated that the mandate of the United Nations intergovernmental negotiations is to achieve the long-standing reforms of the United Nations Security Council and not to debate them endlessly.

The format for intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) had passed its expiration date and had to be made transparent in order to make progress in reform discussions.

India has long been calling for reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC) together with Brazil, Germany and Japan, and stresses that it rightly deserves a place at the UN high table as a permanent member.

The G4 countries support each other in their applications for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

On behalf of the G4 countries, the Permanent Representative of India to UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin called on the UN member states to make progress in the IGN negotiations.

"We see the IGN discussion as inextricably linked to the outcome to be decided at the General Assembly. This is a continuum. Progress here will inevitably determine the outcome that we will adopt at the General Assembly," Akbaruddin said Thursday at the informal General Assembly meeting on the IGN on Security Council reform.

"Lack of progress threatens not only the legitimacy and credibility of this mechanism, but also the General Assembly itself. We strive to make credible progress. However, if we fail to do so again, we are ready to review how we are committed to this very important issue," said he said.

Regarding the saying "If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old," Mr. Akbaruddin emphasized that "the IGN's mandate is to achieve reform, not to debate it endlessly".

The G4 also underlined the need for the IGN format to replicate processes that are being followed with remarkable success in other General Assembly (GA) mechanisms.

"The current format of the IGN has long passed its expiration date. As with other GA negotiation formats, the IGN must be transparent and understandable to improve the ability to build on successive discussions and to avoid repeating statements." said the Indian envoy.

He expressed hope that the two chairs of the IGN process, the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, and the Ambassador of Poland, Joanna Wronecka, will steer UN membership in a way that is appropriate for the Security Council from the 21st century ".

The G4 countries pointed out that there is an "increasing sense of urgency and impatience" with a process that is increasingly viewed as "hindering progress rather than allowing it", underlining the need to focus on specifics rather than on to focus general concepts.

The G4 countries said that as a result of the discussions, the current session of the General Assembly should result in a single, comprehensive and holistic document so that Member States can start negotiations on this basis from the beginning of the 75th session.

In this context, Akbaruddin said that the G4 states are proposing a technical approach that builds on the past.

As the June 2019 revised paper is the latest outcome of the discussions between the UN member states, Akbaruddin said that each member must be given the opportunity to indicate what should be treated as an issue that is included in this paper for further consideration ,

He pointed out that the vast majority of Member States are in favor of expansion into both permanent and non-permanent categories of Security Council membership.

"Our approach is to list all stakeholders' proposals; none should be left behind," he said, adding that the G4 states are looking for equal opportunities for all to present their proposals for inclusion in a single document.

"Such a document will clarify where we are, what options are on the table and who is proposing them," the G4 statement said.

Mr. Akbaruddin also stressed that the first iteration of the single, comprehensive and holistic document must be created before the next meeting in this cycle of the IGN so that the discussions have the maximum time to refine it.