India for comprehensive UNSC reform

Betwa Sharma
United Nations, Jul 13 (PTI) Seeking comprehensive reform
of the UN Security Council, India has said it wanted expansion
in both permanent and non-permanent seats of the world body's
top organ, insisting that its stance reflects that of the
overwhelming majority of the international community.
"India's clear position is that comprehensive reform of
the Security Council implies expansion in both the permanent
and non-permanent categories of membership," Hardeep Singh
Puri, India's ambassador to the UN, said at a closed-door
meeting here.
"In this regard, India's stance reflects that of the
overwhelming majority of the international community," he
said.
India along with Japan, Germany and Brazil, collectively
called the G-4, is pushing for a permanent seat in the
Council.
Discussions on the issue this year were kicked off with
the Chairperson of the Security Council reform process Zahir
Tanin, who is also Afghanistan's permanent representative to
the UN, asking member states to submit proposals that can be
worked into a negotiating text, which will be the basis for
future parleys.
In 2009, member states of the UN abandoned the 'Open
Ended Working Group' (OEWG) that had dragged on for 15 years
without yielding any substantive results.
In March last year, the old talks were replaced by the
new "inter-governmental negotiations."
Opponents of the expansion of seats in UNSC fear that
more members will further cripple the Council, which is often
divided and fails to reach effective decisions on peace and
security matters.
These countries also argue that assigning more powerful
nations permanent positions in the Security Council will not
break the power dynamics of the past.
The Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group of about 40
nations, led by Pakistan and Italy, is trying to block
attempts by G-4 to expand the number of permanent seats in the
Council.
The G-4 favours addition of another six permanent seats
and four non-permanent ones in the UNSC whose current strength
in 15.
It wants two each of the new permanent members to be from
Asia and Africa, and one each from Latin America and Europe.
Most countries in the UN General Assembly also favour
expansion in both categories. PTI