India and other members of the G4 countries, including Brazil, Germany and Japan, have voiced concern over the lack of any concrete result on UN Security Council reform, saying the current inter-governmental negotiation process on the matter does not have the necessary openness and is constrained by flawed working methods.

The foreign ministers of the G4 countries - Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Foreign Minister of Brazil Ernesto Arajo, Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas and Foreign Minister of Japan Motegi Toshimitsu - met on the margins of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on September 25.

According to a joint press statement issued after the meeting, the G4 ministers reviewed the recent efforts undertaken in the inter-governmental negotiations (IGN) on the United Nations Security Council.

Who are the G4 members?

The G4 is a grouping of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan which are aspiring to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

The G4 countries are supporting each other’s bids for permanent membership of the UNSC.

All the four countries have been figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.

Key points raised at the meeting

The recent IGN session demonstrated once again that the negotiation process lacks the necessary openness and transparency and is constrained by flawed working methods.

An overwhelming majority of UN member states firmly support a comprehensive reform of the Security Council and rightfully expect the IGN to be a more result-oriented process.

The importance of efforts aimed at reforming the United Nations and updating its main decision-making bodies, in order to better reflect the contemporary realities.

An expansion of the Security Council in both categories is indispensable to make this body more representative, legitimate and effective, enhancing therefore its capacity to deal with the complex challenges the world faces today on questions of international peace and security.

This reform should include not only the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, but also measures to increase the transparency and effectiveness of the work of the Security Council.

There is a clear need for an enhanced role of developing countries and of major contributors to the United Nations to make the Council more legitimate, effective and representative.

Discussion on Security Council reform should follow the General Assembly’s standard operating procedures in a democratic and transparent manner.