Will push for dialogue and revitalise UNSC reform process: UNGA Prez-elect

Describing the UN Security Council reforms as a "big challenge", UN General Assembly President-elect Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces today said she will push for a dialogue to achieve consensus on the "divisive" issue and revitalise the process during her presidency.

Garces said the UNSC reforms had come up for discussion during her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week along with other important issues such as climate change, the International Solar Alliance and South-South cooperation.

Asked about the long-pending UNSC reforms process at an event at the Indian Council of World Affairs here, Garces said, "I think that is a pending issue -- very contentious, very divisive. My role is going to be to listen carefully to the member states. Security Council reform is a member driven process, very complicated, and I will do my best to push for dialogue for consensus and revitalise the process itself."
To queries about her meeting with the prime minister and their discussion on UN Security Council reform, she told reporters, "The prime minister is totally aware of all the challenges that the UN faces. Of course, one of pending issues is the Security Council reform process. I am in the process of appointing two co-facilitators to bring forward this issue."
On the issue of combating terrorism and the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, she said, "I am totally aware that more than 20 years ago, India already proposed the need to establish a normative international framework on counter terrorism. The organisation and member states are still discussing the issue. It is not an easy issue. Sometimes it can be divisive."