G4 submit draft on UNSC expansion

India, Japan, Germany and Brazil, seeking permanent  membership in the United Nations Security Council, on Wednesday submitted their draft resolution to the UN Secretariat.

This is the first major step to bring their resolution on expansion of the 15-member council to vote in the 191-member General Assembly.

The vote might take place next week.

This is the first of the three resolutions they intend to move to amend the UN Charter to increase the strength of the council to 25, including 11 permanent members and 14 non-permanent members who are elected for a two-year term by the assembly.

The Secretariat will translate it into six official languages of the world body. This is a prerequisite for any document to be circulated to the member states.

They hope that the resolution, which they had unveiled last month, would be circulated by Friday and they could call for a debate on Monday.

The countries took the step despite ongoing negotiations with the African Union and strong opposition from the United States and China. But they were encouraged by the decision of the 15-member Caribbean Community, also known as Caricom, to support their resolution.

They also believe that the position of the African Union  is very near theirs and hence they should be able to get the support of the 53-member AU.

The G-4 hope to have discussions and sort out the matter within a few days.