UNSC Reforms: India Calls Out Proposed Parametres

On 15th April 2025, at the United Nations Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) meeting on ‘Size of the Future Council and cluster discussion on Regional Representation’, India called out attempts to introduce new parameters such as religion and faith as the basis for representation in a reformed UN Security Council.

Key Points

India’s Stance: India asserted that attempts to introduce new parameters, such as religion and faith, as the basis for representation in a reformed Council run completely counter to regional representation, which has been the accepted basis for representation in the UN.
Defeats Purpose: India said that a consolidated model that does not cover expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories, would not achieve the purpose of reform, further entrenching the status quo.
Views of G4 Nations: India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador P Harish, delivered a statement on behalf of the G4 nations of Brazil, Germany, Japan and India, in which the grouping underscored that regional representation is an accepted practice that has stood the test of time in the UN.
The group noted that the existing UN architecture is from a different era, one that no longer exists and the current geopolitical realities warrant a review of this architecture.
The G4 Model: The G4 model for UNSC reform, presented and elaborated during the IGN meetings in 2024, proposes that UNSC membership needs to be increased from the current 15 to 25 or 26, with a reformed Council consisting of 11 permanent members and 14 or 15 non-permanent members.