By Arul Louis
United Nations, Jan 4 (IANS) Japan has called for a change in direction of the negotiations for UN Security Council reforms to move it out of the rut of repetitive discussion it has been stuck in.
Permanent Representative Ishikane Kimihiro, who took over the presidency of the Council on Tuesday, said the discussion in the negotiations process “is not really moving forward, it’s just repeating the same discussion year after year”.
Therefore, “we need to change the course so that we can have we can make steps forward in terms of regarding this Council reform”, he said.
“This reform discussion should be deepened within the framework” of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) for reforms, Kimihiroadded.
Japan took over the elected seat for the Asia Pacific region that India vacated last month at the end of its two-year term.
The two countries are members of the G4 group along with Brazil, a non-permanent member in the second year of its term in the Council, and Germany.
Japan became the Council president in its very first month on the body because of the alphabetical rotation, following India, which held the presidency in December during the last month of its term.
As President, India convened last month a high-level ministerial meeting on the reform of multilateral bodies putting the spotlight on the Council, the basic architecture of which is stuck in the post-World War II scenario of 1945.
“I think that was very important and meaningful in that we could hear firsthand voices of many high-ranking officials on their thoughts on the reform of the Council,” at the meeting, Ishikane said.
He said that although there were differences on “the final picture” of Council reforms, “many countries do agree on the importance of the reform of the council. So the point is, how we can make things move forward”.
During its presidency, Ishkane said Japan will convene next week a high-level ministerial meeting on “The Rule of Law Among Nations”.
It will be presided over by Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, while World Court Chief Judge Joan Donoghue will address it, he said.
The meeting will reaffirm the importance of the rule of law among nations and the UN Charter which all countries must adhere to, he said.
Replying to reporters’ questions, he said that he expected North Korea’s missile tests in defiance of the Council and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to figure in that meeting although no separate meetings on them are now on the roster of sessions.
Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland also joined the Council as elected members.
Speaking at a ceremony for installing the flags of the five new members outside the Council chamber, Mozambique’s Permanent Representative Pedro Comissario Afonso said that the international community should work together to stamp out terrorism.
“Paramount among contemporary threats to international peace and security is the progressive Africanisation of terrorism affecting our continent,” he said.
At a meeting on terrorism convened by India at the Council last month, Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) warned about the spread of these groups in Africa, particularly West Africa, the Sahel, and Central and Southern Africa.
The United Arab Emirates has taken over from India as the chair of the important Counterterrorism Committee.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
–IANS
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