• The foreign ministers of the G4 countries — India, Brazil, Germany and Japan — met during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

• Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Foreign Minister of Brazil Carlos Alberto Franco Franca, Federal Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Motegi Toshimitsu underlined the urgency of reforming the Security Council in order to make it more legitimate, effective and representative by reflecting the reality of the contemporary world, including developing countries and major contributors.

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.

• The G4 nations traditionally meet on the sidelines of the annual high-level UN General Assembly session.

• At present, the UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent member countries which are elected for a two-year term by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The five permanent members are Russia, the UK, China, France and the United States and these countries can veto any substantive resolution.

Highlights of the meeting: 

• The ministers reiterated their support for each other’s candidatures as aspiring new permanent members in a reformed Security Council.

• They expressed their strong determination to work towards launching text-based negotiations without further delay in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN), on the basis of a single document, with a view to its adoption in the General Assembly.

• They expressed their strong support to the Common African Position (CAP) as enshrined in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration. The Consensus underscores Africa’s goal to be fully represented in all decision making organs of the UN particularly the Security Council.

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