The General Assembly's President-elect Miroslav Lajcak has vowed to work to move forward the process of reform of the Security Council, saying the member states feel the "time is up" for transforming the UN organ into a "21st century body".
"By far, the most widely mentioned UN reform topic is the reform of the UN Security Council," Lajcak said in his acceptance speech yesterday after being elected as the President of the 193-member UN body.
He said there is a "high degree of accord that the time is up to transform the Security Council into a 21st century body".
"I intend to work closely and consult widely with you on how to push forward agreement our leaders made at the 2005 World Summit," he added.
Lajcak, 54, elected by acclamation as President of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, said in search for a deeper change of the world organisation, there is a need to strengthen trust between the UN and its member states as well as the major groups.
"Many member states feel that we need tangible progress on the UN reform agenda and revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly. I will do all I can to support this effort," he said, adding that it is vital to make further strides towards improving the efficiency and role of the General Assembly.
"I share the view that this is both a technical and political issue," he said.
Concluding the long-pending reform of the 15-nation Security Council has been a key focus area for India and other developing countries which feel they rightly deserve a place as a permanent member on the horse-shoe table in the changing geopolitical realties of the 21st Century.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, along with G4 nations of Brazil, Germany and Japan, have stressed that the problem lies in the imbalance of influence within the Security Council between the permanent and non-permanent members.
Akbaruddin tweeted that Lajcak appreciated the "prompt congratulatory message" for him from Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.
The long-pending reform process had received a boost under the President of the 69th session of General Assembly Sam Kutesa, who had achieved a breakthrough of sorts during his term in 2014-15 by putting on the table a negotiating text that had contained the proposals and positions of various UN members on expansion of the Council.
The UN General Assembly had adopted by consensus the negotiating text, setting the stage for negotiations to begin the UNSC reforms on the basis of a text for the first time in nearly two decades.
However, the momentum to achieve the reform process has been slow since then.
Listing his priorities for his tenure, Lajcak said he will highlight the importance of prevention and mediation in sustaining peace, being a strong proponent of preventive diplomacy.
He added that he will also take a closer look at the Sustainable Development Goals and climate change.
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