UK backs India’s permanent representation at UNSC

New Delhi, Nov 18: The United Kingdom has reaffirmed its support for the creation of new permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council for India. Japan, Germany and Brazil too had called for the expansion of the council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories.

On Thursday, UK Ambassador to the UN Barbara Woodward said at the UN Security Council's annual discussion that the UK also supports an extension of the non-permanent category of membership, bringing the Security Council's overall membership to somewhere in the mid-20s.

"Our position is well known. The United Kingdom has long called for the expansion of the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. We support the creation of new permanent seats for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, as well as permanent African representation on the Council," she said.

The General Assembly began with speakers reaffirming their calls for the 15-member institution to be expanded and its working processes updated to make it more transparent, inclusive, representative, responsible and effective in a world that is plagued by a series of interconnected challenges.

Speaking on behalf of the G4 countries that included Brazil, Germany and Japan, India's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj expressed her disappointment at the absence of real progress following four decades of equitable representation. She stated that representation is an unavoidable requirement for legitimacy and efficacy and that the longer council reform is delayed, the greater the Council's lack of inclusion.

"The longer the Security Council reform is stalled, the greater its deficit in representation. And representation is an inescapable precondition for its legitimacy and effectiveness," Ambassador Kambok said.

She said that the Security Council must now fulfil its charter-mandated duty to uphold the integrity of all its members. She also said that the G4 has consistently called for a single, unified text as well as new working processes, such as webcasting, record-keeping and the application of the General Assembly's rules of procedure to ensure a free, open and transparent process.

Recently External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar underlined India's stance and said that reforms are a hard nut to crack. However hard nuts can be cracked he said during an interview at the Lowy Institute in Australia.

"When I look back and think, well, this one is too difficult, I won't be doing too much in my life. Life has been a set of challenges particularly for a country like India. I would not let the difficulties of the challenge discourage me. I'd put it the other way around," he also said.