G4-African Union parleys underway
The G4 and AU differ on whether or not to press for immediate veto rights.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Four (G4) nations and the African Union (AU) met separately ahead of a planned joint meeting later on Monday in a bid to hammer out a joint proposal for their bid to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, leading the Indian delegation, attended a G4 breakfast meeting with his counterparts from Germany, Italy and Japan at the residence of the German ambassador. Representatives of the AU also had a meeting, western diplomatic sources said.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Olu Adejini, whose country chairs the 53-nation African Union, was to lead the African delegation at the meeting with the G4.
The G4 and AU positions differ in two respects: over the number of non-permanent Security Council members and on whether or not to press for immediate veto rights in an expanded Security Council.
The G4 have told the current permanent members of the Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - that they are prepared to temporarily surrender their veto rights if they are accepted as permanent members. The AU has given no such assurance.
They are agreed on one crucial respect. Both want six new permanent members: the G4 nations and two from Africa to be decided by the AU.
However, the AU wants 15 non-permanent members of the Security Council, while the G4 wants 14. Non-permanent members are decided by rotation.
The London parleys are crucial if the G4 and AU are to succeed in convincing the 191-member UN General Assembly and the all-powerful Security Council to bring about these reforms with immediate effect.
The US has already opposed the move saying the time is not right, but Natwar Singh said that the G4 may press for a General Assembly vote.
Monday's meeting follows a string of G4 parleys on Sunday at the residences of the Japanese and Brazilian ambassadors in London, followed by a working dinner between the G4 and the African ministers.
Natwar Singh is being assisted in the talks by Nirupam Sen, India's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and Meera Shankar, Additional Secretary (UN) in the External Affairs Ministry.