G-4 for UNSC reform, enhanced role of developing countries

It also said that the intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) should be guided by the decision-making requirements and working methods laid out in the Charter of the United Nations and in the rules and procedures of the General Assembly. In other words G-4 has said that the reforms-related decisions will be by two-third majority in the UN General Assembly, which was enshrined in the 1998 resolution of the UNGA. This is contrary to the position taken by China, which has always said that the decisions should be taken through “comprehensive consensus”.

So, both these points that emerged out of the G-4 foreign ministers’ meeting have taken on China’s position.

The G-4 countries decided to prepare for a fresh push for the reforms at the UNGA in 2020, when the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary.

The countries also put a focus on Africa, which is India’s new focus as it tries to expand its diplomatic presence by opening 18 new missions across the continent.

After foreign ministers of the G-4 countries — Brazil’s Ernesto Araújo, Germany’s Heiko Maas, Japan’s Motegi Toshimitsu and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar — met here on Thursday, the joint statement said, “There is a clear need for an enhanced role of developing countries and of major contributors to the United Nations to make the Council more legitimate, effective and representative.”

Quadrilateral meeting

A year after India refused to upgrade the Quadrilateral grouping to the level of foreign secretaries, foreign ministers of the Quad countries — India, US, Australia and Japan — held their first meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting on Thursday.

The Quadrilateral, which was revived in November 2017, currently meets at the level of joint secretary-level officials. This meeting is an upgrade by at least three levels.

Last September, with Beijing watching the Indo-US engagement closely, India had decided to cautiously approach its engagement with the quadrilateral countries — including Japan and Australia — in the hotly contested Indo-Pacific domain, where an increasingly proactive and assertive China is present in the maritime domain.

During the Indo-US 2+2 meeting last September, the US had wanted to upgrade the level of engagement between the quadrilateral grouping to the level of foreign secretary, but the Indian side did not agree and politely told them to keep it at the joint-secretary level.