Debate starts on India's UNSC bid
The debate that began on Monday saw the draft being rejected by China and Pakistan, writes S Rajagopalan.
Amid ongoing efforts by India and three other G-4 nations - Germany, Brazil and Japan - to strike a compromise with the 53-member African Union, the UN General Assembly has kicked off a debate on the quartet's draft resolution to expand the Security Council.
The debate that began on Monday saw the draft being rejected by China and Pakistan with the latter terming the G-4 initiative as a bid to grab power.
But several other countries, including France, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Tuvalu and Bhutan, supported the draft to increase UNSC's permanent seats from five to 11 and non-permanent ones from 10 to 14.
Though a date for the vote is yet to be set, indications hinge on July 20. A clear picture will emerge after the G4 foreign ministers' crucial review meeting in New York on July 17. China and Pakistan's hostility to the G-4 bid became palpable as Brazil's UN envoy Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg introduced the draft on behalf of the group.
He rejected their contention that UNSC's expansion should be attempted through consensus. A vote by the 191-member General Assembly was the only prescription for the council's "democratic expansion", he said.
China stuck to its stand that it would reject "forcible vote" on any formula beset with significant differences, while Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram accused G-4 of trying to grab power. Pakistan plans to table its draft, along with Italy, Mexico and Argentina, which proposes to add 10 non-permanent members to UNSC without disturbing the present core structure.
The African Union is planning its own draft, depending which way its discussions with the G-4 goes.