UNITED NATIONS, September 24 (agencies): The four nation grouping of G-4 on Saturday committed them to work together for bringing about the urgently needed reform of the UN Security Council.
At a meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Brazil, Japan and Germany (G-4) attended by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, the countries reiterated their common vision of an enlarged Security Council for the 21st century, expanded in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership.
The meeting also noted the contributions made by the countries to maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the need for increased representation of developing countries in both categories, in order to better reflect today’s geo-political realities.
A joint statement issued after the meeting said the ministers discussed the initiative to promote consultations with member states with regard to a draft resolution on Security Council expansion and improvement of its working methods.
The ministers expressed the view that strong support from the international community should be considered as the basis for further discussion in the ongoing intergovernmental negotiations to create the momentum needed for real negotiations among Member States on this all-important matter.
The G-4 foreign ministers also welcomed the decision by the General Assembly to immediately continue the process of intergovernmental negotiations in the informal plenary of the 66th Session.
They reaffirmed their full support to the negotiations and expressed their determination to work in close cooperation with other member states in a spirit of flexibility and press ahead with necessary steps to achieve a concrete outcome in the current UNGA session.
The meeting was attended by Brazil’s Minister of External Relations Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Guido Westerwelle and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Koichiro Gemba.
