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France Supports India, Germany, Brazil & Japan For Permanent Membership Of UN Security Council

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In an expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), France has confirmed its support for India, Germany, Brazil and Japan as permanent members of the international organization.

France highlighted the necessity of considering the rise of new powers ready and equipped to take on the burden of a long-term presence in the mighty world body.

Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the UN Nathalie Broadhurst on Friday said, “France’s position is constant and well known. We want the Council to be more representative of today’s world, in a way that further strengthens its authority and effectiveness.”

Her statement came while she was addressing the UN General Assembly plenary meeting on the ‘Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council’.

She further said, “We must indeed take into account the emergence of new powers that are willing and able to assume the responsibility of a permanent presence in the Security Courncil.”

Broadhurst said that a huge Council could contain up to 25 members to preserve its executive and operational nature.

She said, “France supports the candidacy of Germany, Brazil, India and Japan as permanent members. We would also like to see a stronger presence of African countries, including among the permanent members. The remaining seats should be allocated in order to achieve equitable geographical representation.”

She also added that the issue of the veto is “eminently sensitive” and it is upto the States to request a permanent seat to determine themselves. She said, “In this reflection, the objective must remain twofold: on the one hand, to consolidate the legitimacy of the Security Council; on the other hand, to strengthen its capacity to fully assume its responsibilities in the maintenance of international peace and security.”

She added, “It is in this spirit that France proposed, as early as 2013, that the five permanent members of the Council voluntarily and collectively suspend the use of the veto in case of mass atrocities. This voluntary approach does not require a revision of the Charter but a political commitment by the permanent members.”

France was not alone in this, as the United Kingdom pitched for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil to be the permanent members in an expanded UN Security Council. Speaking at the occasion, the Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the General Assembly debate on Security Council reform Thursday, said, “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.”

She added, “We support the creation of new permanent seats for India, Germany, Japan and Brazil, as well as permanent African representation on the Council. We also support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership, taking the Security Council’s total membership to somewhere in the mid-twenties.”

Woodward opined that with that with such changes, the Council would be more representative of the world today. “And, coupled with a renewed commitment to the UN Charter, it would be better able to respond decisively to threats to international peace and security,” she said.

The US, UK, France, and Russia, four of the Council’s five permanent members, have backed giving India a permanent seat in the UN body. Next month, after India has presided over the Security Council’s 15 members, its current two-year non-permanent membership term will come to an end.

India and the other G4 countries—Brazil, Germany, Japan, and New Delhi—have led the charge for urgent Security Council reform because the body has remained bitterly divided in addressing today’s issues. According to India, if growing powers like India do not have a permanent seat at the horse-shoe table, the Council’s legitimacy is at danger because it does not adequately reflect current geopolitical realities.

The G4 maintains the need for a thorough reform of the Security Council, including an increase in seats in both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership, equitable regional representation, more open and inclusive working procedures, and improved relations with other UN bodies, such as the General Assembly.

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