IBSA presses for speedier UNSC reforms

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 17

India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have expressed their collective frustration with the slow pace of progress on UN Security Council (UNSC) reforms.

The intergovernmental negotiation process lacks transparency in its working methods and the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process, said a joint statement by the three countries after an IBSA ministerial meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The ministers have demanded a provision for substantive negotiations based on a single comprehensive text, in a formal setting.

The IBSA said it was necessary to expand the UNSC’s permanent and non-permanent categories to enhance the voice and representation of emerging and developing countries to better reflect contemporary realities. Significantly, all three aspire for a permanent UNSC seat although South Africa is bound by a common African position.

India is also attempting to expand the UNSC through the G-4 route in which two developed countries Japan and Germany have joined hands with India and Brazil from the Global South corner.

The IBSA said the failure to reform the UNSC has serious implications for peace and security as also for its legitimacy which rests on whether its composition is equitable and reflective of the aspirations of the UN’s membership.

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations Grace Naledi and Brazil Vice-Minister for National Sovereignty Fabio Marzano led their respective delegations.