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G-4 ministers to meet in Brussels on June 22
The G-4 countries decided to intensify their consultations to get permanent UNSC seat, after US voiced its criteria.
India and the other G-4 countries - Japan, Brazil and Germany - have decided to intensify their consultations to get a permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC) after the US enunciated criteria for the UNSC membership earlier this week.
"The G-4 foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels on June 22. External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh will be cutting short his visit to Italy for this purpose," said external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna here Saturday.
US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, at a press briefing in Washington on Wednesday, listed several criteria for "eligible countries" and those countries, which are "supremely well qualified" to become members of the UNSC.
His statement that the US is "considering supporting two or so new permanent members" to the council rekindled hopes in India about the US supporting India's bid on the basis of criteria spelt out by him. New Delhi is positive about the criteria listed by Burns, diplomatic sources said.
Burns' criteria for the new members of the UNSC include the size of a country's economy; the size of its population; its military capacity; its potential to contribute militarily to UN peacekeeping missions; its contributions to peacekeeping; and its commitment to democracy and human rights.
The G-4's renewed consultations on a common strategy acquire added significance, especially after Burns' insistence that too many new members, as per the G-4 proposal, will impinge on the effectiveness of the council. India will, however, pursue the G-4 route to expand the United Nations Security Council, the sources said.
The sources stressed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington in July would be the "ideal occasion" for the US to announce its support for India's candidature for the UNSC.
Early this week, Natwar Singh had spoken to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer as part of India's strategy to drum up maximum support for the UNSC expansion. He also spoke to Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.
The G-4 countries want the 191-nation General Assembly to adopt a framework resolution that will add six new permanent members and four new non-permanent seats to the Security Council. The draft resolution is likely to be tabled in early July. A decision on the issue will be taken next week, the sources said.
India and other G-4 countries are trying to win as many co-sponsors for the draft resolution as possible. France is the only one among the five permanent members to co-sponsor the G-4 draft resolution.
