United Nations, Sep 23 (IANS) The Foreign Ministers of the G4 have expressed "strong concern" over the failure so far of the negotiations for reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to make headway after nearly two decades and said they would expand their outreach to other groups and forums.

In a joint statement after a meeting in New York on Wednesday, Ministers of the G4, the group made up of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, said the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) framework for reforms "has been largely ineffective in forging any concrete outcomes towards real UNSC reform despite 18 years of activities".

"They expressed strong concern at the lack of progress during the previous IGN session as well," the statement said.

They "reiterated that discussions on reform need not be confined to the IGN and expressed their willingness to engage with the wider UN membership on this issue in other forums," the statement added.

"The G4 will further collaborate and identify synergies with other reform-oriented groups with a view to developing a consolidated model that properly reflects the voice of a majority of Member States and commencing text-based negotiations as a high priority," the Ministers said.

The Ministers "underscored that expansion of the UNSC in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership is central to such reform and that this position is supported by a majority of Member States".

"They reiterated the importance of improving the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, in both these categories" to rectify historical injustices.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar chaired the meeting with Foreign Ministers Mauro Vieira of Brazil, Johann Wadephul of Germany, and Motegi Toshimitsu of Japan.

The four countries jointly advocate for a reform that would increase the permanent membership of the Council, and support each other for those seats.

EAM Jaishankar on social media platform X said that they "discussed the imperative of reformed multilateralism and a more representative, responsive and effective UN Security Council that reflects today's global realities".

They "will continue to work together to advance this shared objective," the EAM added.

The Ministers' statement said they had "serious reservations against the presentation of a so-called bridging proposal even prior to commencement of text-based negotiations".

The G4 has demanded the adoption of a negotiating text by the IGN to set the agenda for the discussions and track the progress, but a small group of countries calling themselves Uniting for Consensus has worked to sabotage its adoption through procedural manoeuvres.

There is now a attempt to create a "bridging proposal" that would set out parameters of the various proposals without advancing the negotiations while it is grappling with even the adoption of a negotiating text.

The statement said, "The G4 Ministers welcomed the presentation of the reform model of the African Group in the IGN during the 80th session. They underscored their continuing support for Africa's compelling case for enhanced representation in the UNSC, including in the permanent category of membership."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and several world leaders who addressed the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday urged reforms to give the African continent permanent representation on the Council.

The Ministers said that the failure of the Council to be effective in dealing with the several crises facing the world is "an anachronistic eight-decades old architecture, which is not reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities and an impediment to appropriately dealing with contemporary and future challenges that humanity faces with respect to peace and security".

Earlier, Japan's Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae told the leaders assembled for the high level meeting of the UN General Assembly that the reforms are of utmost import and "we need to transform it without delay into a structure that truly reflects the current realities of the international community".

--IANS

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