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Headline : G-4 countries for multilateralism, UNSC reform
Details :
The News
  • G4 nations including India, reiterated the need to accelerate the long-pending UNSC reforms on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly.

Key Highlights
  • The G4 countries reiterated their call for the early reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
  • Besides they also reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism at a time when the US administration is actively opposing Multilateralism.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Reform and G4
  • The UNSC reform primarily involves expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent membership of the council.
  • The question of equitable representation and increase in the membership was on the agenda of the General Assembly way back in 1979.
  • The UNSC officially started in 1992.
  • However the reform process was hindered by divergence of interests among developing countries.
  • In 2007, the effort to reform the council got a fillip with the establishment of a new mechanism of Intergovernmental Negotiation (IGN) on Security Council reform.
  • As a result of efforts of G4 led by India, the General Assembly adopted text-based negotiations in 2015 which was supported by 69 countries.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
  • The UN Security Council has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large.
  • Currently the U.N. Charter provides for 15 members on the UNSC with 5 permanent members known as P5 and 10 non-permanent members.
  • While the P5 including Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S are permanent members having veto power over decisions of UNSC, the non permanent members, have a 2-year term, with five elected by the General Assembly in October each year.

G4
  • The G4 nations comprising of Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan was formed primarily to support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
  • G-4 nations have been campaigning for expanding the Security Council by 10 seats, with 6 additional permanent and four non-permanent members. 
  • Further the G4 nations also support Africa's representation in both categories of membership in UNSC.
  • However the G4 nation’s bid for permanent membership was actively opposed by a group of nations called Uniting for Consensus or ‘Coffee Club’ led by Pakistan and Italy.
  • Further among the permanent members while China has been opposing the move to expand the Security Council, US has been neutral.
  • They oppose additional permanent members in the council. 

Need for UNSC reforms
  • In the aftermath of Cold war the UNSC has broadened its reach.
  • With growing role of the council, developing countries led by G4 have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Council’s unrepresentative character and the P5’s exercise of veto power.
  • Further the NAM Summit of 1992 took the issue of Security Council reform as one of its central concerns.
  • Security concerns is at the top of global agenda since 2015 and there is expanding threat from terror groups like ISIS, LeT, Al Qaeda etc covering larger space in Asia, Middle east and Northern African regions.
  • Further Germany and Japan contribute one fifth of the UN budget while G4 together have one fifth of the world population.
  • Thus in order to make the council more representative, reflective of the current global order a overwhelming majority of UN member states led by G4 are supporting Security Council reform.