United Nations, Apr 16: Amid talk of Islamic representation, India and other G4 members have rejected proposals to allocate seats on the basis of religion in a reformed Security Council.

“Proposals to introduce new parameters (in reforming the Council) such as religious affiliation run counter to establish UN practice”, India’s Permanent Representative P Harish said Tuesday while speaking on behalf of the G4.

He did not name Turkiye or its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said last month that an Islamic country should be a permanent member of the Council.

Nor did he mention Pakistan or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that proposed that all categories of Council membership should have representation for the “Islamic Ummah”.

Harish said introducing a religious factor would “add considerable complexity to an already difficult discussion” on reforming the Council.

He spoke at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Council reforms on behalf of the G4, whose other members are Brazil, Germany, and Japan.

He also reiterated the point while speaking solely in his capacity as India’s representative emphasising that it would undermine the principle of regional representation.

“Attempts to introduce new parameters such as religion and faith as basis for representation in a reformed Council runs completely counter to regional representation, which has been the accepted basis for representation in the United Nations”, he said.

Erdogan, who is attempting to assume the mantle of the leader of the Muslim world, said last month at an iftar for diplomats, “Having an Islamic country with veto power in the UN Security Council is not just a necessity but an obligation”.

The four nations of the G4, a “progressive, constructive and forward looking, reform oriented group”, advocates for expanding the permanent membership of the Council and mutually support each other for the seats.

However, Harish said that the G4 “as an advocacy group that works towards meaningful reforms” does not make “any specific recommendation” on who the new permanent members should be and leaves it to the General Assembly.

“G4 would once again reiterate that a decision on member states that would become permanent members of a reformed Council is a decision to be taken by the General Assembly in a democratic manner”, he said.

Harish laid out the G4’s position on the size of an expanded Council and the regional representation.

The Council’s membership would be raised from 15 to 25 or 26, with permanent members increased from five to 11 permanent members and non-permanent members going up from ten to 14 or 15, under the G4 proposal.

Of the six new permanent seats, two each would go to Africa and to Asia Pacific regions, while the Latin America and Caribbean region, and Western Europe and others group would get one each.

Of the new non-permanent seats, one each would be assigned to Asia Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, and Eastern European, while Africa would get one or two depending on the decision on the size of the category.

Without naming the United for Consensus (UfC) led by Italy and includes Pakistan that opposes adding permanent members and prevents the reform process from going forward with the adoption of a negotiating text, Harish directed remarks to it while speaking in his national capacity.

“Those opposed to text-based negotiations do not seek progress on reforms”, he said.

“An argument that an expanded and reformed Security Council would not be efficient is an attempt to stall real reforms”, he added.

“A reform council with appropriate working methods and accountability mechanisms would be equipped to function effectively and deliver meaningfully on pressing global issues”.

While Erdogan has come out in favour of expanding the Council's permanent membership to include Islamic representation, Pakistan opposes adding new permanent members.

But while speaking on behalf of the OIC last year yielding to is pressures, Islamabad’s former Permanent Representative Munir Akram said the “Islamic ummah” would not accept any proposal that does not give it adequate representation in “any category of membership”.

If a religion analysis of the current permanent membership is made, there is one nominally Communist nation, China, and four Christian majority countries – and further breaking them down two, the United States and Britain are Protestant, while France is Catholic, and Russia Orthodox.

Before the breakdown of the Soviet Union when the seat went to Russia, two were Communist, an atheistic ideology. In Taiwan, which originally held the China seat, Buddhists and Taoists make up the majority.

(IANS)

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