UN states mulling Security Council expansion

The United Nations member states will begin inter-governmental negotiations on the expansion of the 15-member Security Council in both permanent and non permanent categories and also mull on the question of veto, the two issues for which India has pressed for debate.

India backed by a large number of members, advocates expansion in both permanent and non permanent categories.

India along with Japan, Germany and Brazil, called Group of four, are the strong contenders for a permanent slot in the expanded Security Council.

In a letter to the member states, UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann identified five subjects that the assembly will discuss separately--categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged council and working methods of the Security Council and relations between the Council and the General Assembly.

Currently, the 15-member Council has five permanent members with veto power – the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China, and ten non permanent members elected by the 192-member Assembly for a two-year term.

The G-4 proposal would add six permanent members including two from Asia, two from Africa, one from Latin American and one from the European and other states and four non permanent members, taking the total membership to 25.

With this, the open ended working group which has been debating the issue for more than a decade would become more or less defunct though it would not be officially disbanded.