PM Modi makes strong pitch for UNSC expansion
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called an end to the G20 summit in Delhi as he handed over the ceremonial gavel to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to mark the transfer of bloc’s presidency.
“I want to congratulate Brazil’s president and my friend Lula da Silva, and hand over the presidency’s gavel to him,” Modi said. Brazil will officially take over the mantle of the presidency of the elite grouping on December 1 this year.
At the concluding session, Modi proposed an G20 virtual summit in November end to review progress on matters decided in this summit. Modi also made a strong pitch for expansion of the UN Security Council and reforms in all global institutions, asserting that they should reflect the world’s “new realities” as it is nature’s law that those who don’t change with times, lose relevance.
Echoing Modi’s pitch at an earlier session for reforms in global institutions, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the UN Security Council needs new developing countries as permanent and non-permanent members to regain political strength.
“We want greater representation for emerging countries at the World Bank and the IMF,” he said.
Speaking at the ‘One Future’ session during the G20 Summit, Modi made a fresh push for reforms in global institutions, including the United Nations.
“In order to take the world towards a better future, it is necessary that the global systems are according to the present realities. Today, the ‘United Nations Security Council’ is also an example of this. When the UN was established, the world was completely different from what it is today. At that time there were 51 founding members in the UN. Today the number of countries included in the UN is around 200,” Modi said.
“Despite this, the number of permanent members in the UNSC remains the same. The world has since changed a lot in every aspect. Be it transport, communication, health and education, every sector has been transformed. These new realities should reflect in our new global structure,” he said.
Pitching for reforms, he said that is why a historic initiative was made on Saturday by making the African Union a member of the G20.
Over 200 hours of negotiations for Delhi declaration
India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Sunday said that it took over 200 hours of non-stop negotiations to deliver a consensus on the G20 declaration that was adopted at the Leaders’ Summit. The Indian team of diplomats held 300 bilateral meetings and circulated 15 drafts with their counterparts on the contentious Ukraine conflict to drive home a consensus.
“The most complex part of the entire G20 was to bring consensus on the geopolitical paras (Russia-Ukraine). This was done over 200 hours of non -stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings, 15 drafts. In this, I was greatly assisted by two brilliant officers, Eenam Gambhir and K Nagraj Naidu,” Kant posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
