UN Security Council Must Include World's Largest Democracies: PM Modi at G4

New Delhi:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hosting a special high-powered summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in New York, his last official engagement in the city before he heads to the West Coast.

The three nations, along with India, make up what is known as the G-4 group – countries which back each other’s bid for permanent seats at the UN Security Council. The Security Council, a powerful world body, is in charge of international peacekeeping and making changes in the UN charter. (Live Updates)

In his opening remarks PM Modi welcomed his guests and said, “The subject for reforms in UNSC has been the focus of global attention for decades. Unfortunately without progress so far.”

He said the world had changed since the UN was born, with the number of member states increasing four-fold. “The threat to security have become more complex, unpredictable and unidentified,” the PM said, adding, “The Security Council must include the world’s largest democracies…Reform of the UNSC should take place in a fixed time frame, it is an urgent and important task.”

Speaking after PM Modi, both Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and Japan’s Shinzo Abe said the world’s realities had changed and must reflect in a reformed Security Council.

India is making a strong bid for a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council, which currently has five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Ten non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the UN General Assembly.

The UN General Assembly has already adopted a negotiating document for long-pending reforms of the powerful wing of the world body and the US, one of the council’s permanent members, has said it is committed to India’s inclusion as a permanent member.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Asoke Mukerji has said the main focus of the G4 summit today is to “build” on the UNGA’s adoption of the negotiating text on UNSC reforms.

As the single largest contributor to the UN Peacekeeping operations, India is expected to seek an enhanced role in the UN’s decision making process. PM Modi is expected to make a statement on September 28 at the UN Peacekeeping Summit convened by US President Barack Obama in New York.