G4 GROUPING

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Context: Germany, Brazil, Japan and India reiterate support for each other’s bids to become permanent members of the UNSC, and for representation of African countries

Details:

• Reform of the United Nations has been a central theme of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to the United Nations, and he met with his counterparts from Germany, Brazil and Japan under The Group of Four (G4) banner.
• The group is primarily focused on U.N. Security Council (UNSC) reform, and permanent membership of the body for G4 members, among others.
• The G4 felt that the U.N. decision making bodies needed to be urgently reformed as global issues were increasingly complex and interconnected, a joint press statement from the group said.
• The “inability” of the UNSC to “effectively” address these problems “vividly demonstrate[s] the urgent need” for UNSC reform, the statement said.
• G4 ministers expressed concern that the 76 th Session of the U.N. General Assembly (i.e., the year-long session that just concluded) did not make “meaningful progress” in the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN), which, according to the G4, was constrained by a lack of transparency.
• The G4 Ministers welcomed the recommendation of the President of the 76 th General Assembly to “gradually move the process towards text based negotiations”, and hoped this principle would be followed in the 77th General Assembly Session.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-japan-brazil-germany-dissatisfied-with-lack-of-progress-in-un-reform/article65926668.ece