In a clear indication of interest in the reform of the United Nations, over 150 member states of the world body attended a meeting in New York on Thursday evening convened by the Group of Four to discuss the reform and expansion of the UN Security Council.

G-4 comprises Germany [Images], Japan [Images], Brazil [Images] and India.

The meeting, the first attended by more than two-thirds of the UN member states since the publication of the high-level recommendations on the reform of the world body in December last year, saw attendance by states like Singapore, Argentina and New Zealand [Images], members of the so called Coffee Club that opposes expansion of the Council with new permanent members.

"The presence of more than two-thirds of member states showed that there is a certain measure of support of the reform process," Nirupam Sen, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, told rediff.com after the two-hour, closed-door meeting at the UN Millennium Plaza Hotel overlooking the United Nations headquarters.

At the meeting, which was addressed by the ambassadors of Germany, Japan and Brazil besides India, all of whom support the candidature of each other for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, India made a pitch for its inclusion in the expanded Council as a permanent member with veto power.

The meeting set at rest speculation in some quarters that New Delhi [Images] might settle for permanent membership of the Council without veto power. "There is no mention of the word veto in the UN Charter which for certain kinds of decisions by the Security Council says that 'these shall be made by an affirmative vote of 9 members including the concurring votes of the permanent members'," Sen said.

"It would be inappropriate to amend it to say that there would be concurring votes of some, but not of other permanent members," he said.

"This would be somewhat ridiculous. In any case we cannot accept any discrimination between permanent members,"
he added.

Sen said that even Pakistan, a core member of the Coffee Club has supported veto power for permanent members when it said during the last debate on the High Level Panel and Millennium Project reports that new permanent members without veto cannot withstand the weight of old permanent members with veto.

"What it means is that Pakistan believes new members have to be armed with veto and that is what I told the distinguished gathering," Sen said. "Without the veto the new permanent members cannot fulfill the mandate of the UNGA on ensuring new working methods marked by inclusiveness and transparency," he said.

Although some of the Coffee Club members attended the meeting, neither Pakistan Ambassador [Images] Munir Akram, nor his deputy attended the meeting.

The Italian Ambassador was also absent, although the G-4 said invitations to attend the meeting was sent to all member states.

At the meeting, New Zealand wanted to know if the veto power could be abolished. The response of the G-4 was that it has northing against the abolition. "But certainly the abolition has to be universal and we cannot have a situation where some have the so called veto and other do not," Sen said.

In a joint statement, the G-4 countries said that in the present 59th session of the UNGA, 166 countries have explicitly stressed the need for reform, some 120 of which have supported the expansion both in terms of permanent and non-permanent categories.

It also noted that an overwhelming majority also favours an improvement in the working methods of the council to make them more transparent and inclusive. "This platform provides the basis for reaching decisions with the broadest possible agreement among members states," the statement said.

Thursday's meeting is expected to pave the way for the preparation of the first resolution to be discussed, debated and voted by the member states on the main elements of the reform. This will be followed by selection of candidates in both permanent and non-permanent categories which too will be subjected to debate and voting. Once these resolutions are adopted by two thirds majority of the member states, the third resolution would be introduced to amend UN Charter.

Although all the three resolutions are required to be passed before the beginning of the next UNGA plenary in September, one of the feisty issues is expected to come during the second stage when names of countries for inclusion as members to the council come up.

"At that stage there could be voting on a package or individual voting if a consensus cannot be reached on a shortlist of names. It will all depend on the situation at that time." Sen said.

While Russia [Images], France [Images] and UK have expressed support for India's inclusion in the Council, the US and China still seem
non-committal.