United Nations: Amid talk of Islamic representation, India and other G4 members have rejected proposals to allocate seats on the basis of religion in a reformed Security Council. “Proposals to introduce new parameters (in reforming the Council) such as religious affiliation run counter to establish UN practice”, India’s Permanent Representative Parvathaneni Harish said this week while speaking on behalf of the G4.
He did not name Turkiye or its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said last month that an Islamic country should be a permanent member of the Council.
Nor did he mention Pakistan or the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that proposed that all categories of Council membership should have representation for the “Islamic Ummah”.
Harish said introducing a religious factor would “add considerable complexity to an already difficult discussion” on reforming the Council. He spoke at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Council reforms on behalf of the G4, whose other members are Brazil, Germany, and Japan.
He also reiterated the point while speaking solely in his capacity as India’s representative emphasizing that it would undermine the principle of regional representation. “Attempts to introduce new parameters such as religion and faith as basis for representation in a reformed Council runs completely counter to regional representation, which has been the accepted basis for representation in the United Nations”, he said.
