The foreign ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa at a trilateral meeting within the IBSA format on Saturday slammed the dragging international discussion of the UN Security Council's reform and called for making it an "urgent and top priority," the Indian Foreign Ministry said.
"The Ministers emphasized that while a comprehensive reform of the UN system remains a crucial international undertaking, the advancing of the reform of the Security Council should remain an urgent and top priority," the ministry stressed.
The top diplomats of the countries described in the statement as "three large pluralistic, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic democracies of Asia, South America and Africa" expressed their frustration with the "paralysis" of the UNSC reform's discussion and urged "a result-oriented process and... the redoubling of efforts to achieve concrete outcomes within a fixed time frame."
The IBSA bloc specifically wants "text-based negotiations, based on a single comprehensive text" to take place during the current UNGA session, with the view to achieving a UNSC reform that would ensure representation of developing economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
According to the statement, India and Brazil want permanent seats in the Security Council and African countries want "permanent presence."
Earlier, Csaba Korosi, president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, called on the United Nations to evolve with the times and undertake much needed reforms of key UN bodies.
In the wake of the discussions on the need for a UN reform and the necessity to strengthen the developing countries' position in international institutions, on Thursday, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor underlined that these countries ought to play a greater role in affairs of the UN and other international development institutions and promote "progressive agenda."