Foreign Secretary of India Shyam Saran expressed hope Monday that India would be able to muster the crucial African Union (AU) support for the G4 resolution by the end of this year in its bid to secure a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council.

"We will work with our African friends to come out with a common document. By the end of this year, we should move ahead on the crucial issue of UN Security Council reforms," Saran told reporters Monday.

The four, India, Japan, Brazil and Germany, who are seeking permanent membership of the expanded Council, had suffered a setback when the African Union failed to back their framework resolution, thus depriving it of the requisite two-thirds majority in the 191-member UN General Assembly.

The council is currently composed of five veto-wielding permanent members and 10 rotating elected members with two-year terms.

"If we are able to achieve our plan for Security Council expansion, the biggest beneficiary will be Africa and if we lose the biggest loser will be Africa," he added.

In a meeting between foreign ministers of the G4 and AU countries in London July 25, a deal was struck between AU and the G4 that envisaged presenting a joint resolution before the UN General Assembly.

This joint resolution proposed six permanent seats with no immediate veto powers and five non-permanent seats.

The 53-nation AU at its summit in Addis Ababa in August, however, failed to endorse the London understanding that proved a major setback to the G4 plan for a common resolution winning 128 votes in the UNGA.

Source: Xinhua