G4 Nations Demand Urgent UN Security Council Overhaul

Foreign ministers from the G4 nations—India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan—met in New York on September 22 during the 81st UN General Assembly to demand an urgent overhaul of the United Nations Security Council. The group issued a joint statement describing the Council's eight-decades-old architecture as anachronistic and lacking the legitimacy required to maintain international peace and security.

S. Jaishankar, India's External Affairs Minister, chaired the meeting where the G4 called for the expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership. The ministers specifically advocated for increased representation for Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean to rectify historical injustices. The group expressed strong concern over the Intergovernmental Negotiations framework, labeling it largely ineffective after 18 years of failure to produce concrete outcomes.

The G4 rejected a recent bridging proposal and criticized the Uniting for Consensus group for using procedural manoeuvres to block a formal negotiating text. In response, the G4 announced plans to engage with the wider UN membership and other reform-oriented groups outside the existing framework. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae also urged immediate reforms to ensure the Council reflects current international realities. The G4 intends to review their progress at a future Director General-level meeting in New Delhi.