Chinese President Xi Jinping skirts G4 nations' demand for UNSC expansion

 Skirting the demand of G4 countries, including India, to speed up reforms in the UN Security Council by expanding its permanent members, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called for global efforts to defend authority and role of the UN.

On the 70th anniversary of the founding of the UN, the international community should reaffirm the commitment to multilateralism, defend principles and purposes of the UN Charter, safeguard authority and role of the UN, Xi said in his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines UN General Assembly. The member states demonstrated their support and expectations for the UN to play a bigger role in world affairs with their leaders gathering in New York, Xi noted.

He urged the global institution and its Security Council to draw useful experiences from how the Iran nuclear issue was handled. The Chinese leader expected the UN to play a leading role in addressing global issues, adding the world body is the most ideal platform for international anti-terrorism cooperation. The UN member states, Xi said, should earnestly implement relevant resolutions adopted by the Security Council as well as global anti-terrorist strategies approved by the General Assembly, so as to combat terrorism in multiple and coordinated efforts, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In its elaborate report carried by Xinhua on Xi's comments, there were no references to calls by India and several other countries for UNSC expansion, specially the veto wielding permanent membership currenty held by P5 countries -- the US, Britain, Russia, France and China. Hours ahead of the Xi's meetings at the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff held G4 leaders summit, making a strong case for their inclusion as permanent members of the UNSC.

They declared themselves "legitimate" candidates for permanent membership of the UNSC as they pushed for its reform in a "fixed time-frame". China has remained ambivalent on India's demand for its inclusion in the UNSC saying that it appreciates New Delhi's desire to play a bigger role in the UN.

A recent article in state-run Global Times said India made a big mistake by aligning with Japan, Germany and Brazil. "In fact, India's biggest mistake is to ally itself with Japan, Germany and Brazil. First of all, these three countries have opponents in the region. Japan's bid for permanent membership will definitely invite strong opposition from China and South Korea," it said.