External Affairs Minister Jaishankar's discussion with G4 and BRICS -

New York: Permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council is India’s right, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar a day ago. After that, Jaishankar held discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Germany and Japan, who have claimed permanent membership of the Security Council, including India. The talks between these countries, known as the G4, have agreed to support each other’s membership fully. In addition, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar also discussed with the foreign ministers of BRICS countries. During this meeting of BRICS, S. Jaishankar’s discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi drew attention.

Brazil, Germany, and Japan have been claiming permanent membership together with India. These four countries have jointly established the G4, and this meeting was held in the background of the United Nations General Assembly. In this meeting, it was agreed to support each other’s claim fully. Also, these four countries blamed the Security Council’s reform process for not being open and transparent. Moreover, the G4 has expressed displeasure by saying that the ongoing discussions at the level of the governments are not gaining much momentum in this regard. G4 has expressed its expectation that the discussion process should start soon without wasting more time.

A meeting of the BRICS organisation’s foreign ministers of India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa was also held during the General Assembly. In this meeting, concern was expressed over the situation in Ukraine. In this meeting, where Russia is a member, the discussion on Ukraine becomes noteworthy. The discussion between the External Affairs Minister of India and China during this meeting seemed especially important. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar criticised China for blocking the action of the Security Council against terrorists.

While India thus openly expresses its displeasure, China seems to be ignoring it without replying. However, the two-pronged policy against terrorism was severely criticised in this meeting of BRICS. This has also been prominently mentioned in the joint statement. It became a particular matter as even China had to support this. It revealed that the External Affairs Minister of India would present the country’s stand against terrorism more strongly in the future. The response he got from other countries unsettled Pakistan and China. Moreover, India has been schematically increasing its influence on the international stage, and this country has been expressing concern that Pakistan will be hit.