India Backs G4 Proposal for Expanded UN Security Council, Veto Freeze for New Members

The G4 nations of India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have intensified their push for UN Security Council reform , with India strongly backing a proposal calling for expansion of the Council and a temporary freeze on veto powers for new permanent members during ongoing Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) at the United Nations.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Harish Parvathaneni, speaking on behalf of the grouping, said the current structure of the UN Security Council no longer reflects present-day geopolitical realities and stressed that reform efforts must now move beyond discussion into text-based negotiations . He warned that continued procedural delays risk stalling meaningful progress on long-pending reforms.

Under the G4 proposal, new permanent members would have the same responsibilities and obligations as existing permanent members, while the grouping firmly rejects any two-tier system within the permanent category. At the same time, the bloc has proposed that new members would not exercise veto power for a 15-year transitional period , after which the arrangement would be reviewed.

The G4 also reaffirmed its broader reform blueprint, which calls for expanding the Security Council to around 25–26 members , including 11 permanent seats and an increased number of non-permanent members. The grouping argues that this expansion is necessary to reflect current global geopolitical and regional realities more accurately.

India also flagged concerns over how ongoing negotiations are being recorded, suggesting that the level of support for expansion has not been fully reflected in official summaries of the IGN process. It argued that broader backing for enlargement is stronger than some reports indicate.

Across the wider IGN discussions, three key themes have emerged: increasing pressure to begin structured text-based negotiations, continued consensus on the need to expand Council membership, and persistent divisions over veto reform and the final structure of a reformed Council.

The G4 has urged member states to move without further delay toward a formal negotiating text, arguing that only structured negotiations can break years of deadlock and deliver meaningful reform of the Security Council.