France 'strongly' supports India, other G4 nations' bid for UNSC reforms

France has strongly backed India and other G4 countries’ demand for a permanent seat and tangible reforms at the United Nations Security Council. India’s deputy permanent representative to the UN,  K Nagaraj Naidu, wrote a letter to the president of UN General assembly, demanding urgent reforms at the 15-member council in line with Common African position.

"France strongly supports India and the G4 (India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) in their bid for a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations Security Council," Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, tweeted on September 2.

Naidu urged the UN General Assembly president to not let the process be held hostage, as it has been over a decade, by those who do not want reform. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, in a common letter, demanded concrete action on UNSC reforms since the process has lagged on for over a decade without progress.

In February, the G4 countries had said that the format of the United Nations’ Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) has long outlived its sell-by date. In a joint statement, the G4 nations stressed that the mandate of the IGN is to achieve reform, not to “endlessly debate it”. The G4 nations have supported the idea of the webcast of proceedings which can usher in transparency and accountability. 

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Expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories

According to the G4 nations, the vast majority of member states are in favour of expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the Security Council. They have also welcomed the suggestion for maintaining the records of proceedings as a useful way of following the nuances of positions taken.

India is set to join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning in January 2021. Naidu said that there has been no tangible progress at all and the IGN process has become more than a convenient smokescreen to hide behind, for those who do not wish to see any reform in the Security Council. 

“Consequently, there is a need to ensure that the IGN process is not held hostage, procedurally and substantially, by those who do not wish to bring about reform in the Security Council,” the letter read.

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