G4, AU fail to agree on UNSC expansion
Meanwhile, Pak and Italy-led UFC is preparing to move its own resolution.
United Nations ambassadors of India, Japan, Germany and Brazil and African Union (AU) failed to find a common position on expansion of the Security Council and decided to return the issue to their foreign ministers who had charged them with drawing up a draft resolution acceptable to both.
The failure of G4 ambassadors' talks with their AU counterparts came even as Pakistan and Italy-led "Uniting for Consensus" (UFC) group was preparing to move in the General Assembly its own resolution. The UFC draft calls for expansion of the 15-member Council in only the non-permanent category with addition of ten new members, to take its strength to 25.
AU ambassadors were unable to agree on a common position with G4, which would have led to substantive discussions, diplomats said. G4 presented AU with their options but the latter were unable to agree on any one position though they considered several options.
All the options would now be presented to the foreign ministers of G4 and African Union who are scheduled to meet on Monday in London instead of Geneva.
African diplomats said that the joint G4-AU meeting could be preceded by discussions among African foreign ministers and top officials in an effort to arrive at an agreed position.
Though several diplomats, including India's UN ambassador Nirupam Sen said they were leaving for London on Saturday ahead of Monday's meeting, no one was prepared to speculate whether the meeting would actually be held.
Diplomats were tightlipped over various options drawn up by the groups, saying they would submit them to their political masters and not hold discussions through the press.
According to G4 sources, one of their options is to make a strong political statement on veto, the main point of contention between two groups, and leave the current formulation more or less intact.
The G4 draft accepts in principle the right of veto for new permanent members but defers its exercise for 15 years when the General Assembly would review the situation again. AU however, would like the new permanent members to enjoy veto right from day one to be on par with the existing permanent members — US, UK, Russia, France and China.
