Firmly supporting the demand for expansion of the Security Council, incoming UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asserted that his first priority would be to build trust in the world body to bolster its image scarred by charges of corruption.
Addressing a press conference shortly after being sworn in as the eighth Secretary General on Thursday, he also did not agree with his predecessor Kofi Annan's criticism of the US for its "go-it-alone" diplomacy at the cost of multilateralism.
"That, I think, was his (Annan's) own personal assessment and insight which he gained during his tenure," he said to a query with the outgoing Secretary General by his side.
Ban firmly supported the expansion of the Security Council in view of "dramatic changes" in international politics, but did not back any particular model.
"As the Secretary-General, I will try to facilitate consultations among the member States so that broadest possible consensus formula could be drawn out among member States" on the issue, he said.
But he did not say whether he would support addition of two countries each from Africa and Asia as permanent members of the Council, merely noting that member States had been unable to agree on the formula for last ten years.
{{/usCountry}}But he did not say whether he would support addition of two countries each from Africa and Asia as permanent members of the Council, merely noting that member States had been unable to agree on the formula for last ten years.
{{/usCountry}}India and Japan are strong contenders for the permanent membership in an expanded Council.
Though most member States support expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories, a group led by Pakistan only wants expansion in the non-permanent category with creation of new category of non-permanent members who would have a much longer term than the current two-year term.