Tuesday, April 5 2005 12:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: In a setback to India and other G-4 nations, who are seeking an early resolution on expansion of UN Security Council (UNSC), China has said any decision on the issue should be made not by vote in the General Assembly but through consensus, which many fear will stall or even scuttle the process.

China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters that the main objective of the expansion should be to increase the number of members from the developing world because there was an imbalance in the Council composition.

China, he said, has not yet made its mind on various candidates seeking permanent membership but a full discussion among member States is required to reach a consensus, the absence of which would be detrimental to the UN.

His comment came following Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for enlarging the Council by September when a summit of world leaders is scheduled at the United Nations. Annan had also asked member States not use the excuse of consensus for delaying the Council reforms.

Asked if the demand for consensus may rule out any expansion of the Council given opposition to almost every country, Wang, who is President of the Council for this month, said broad agreement is still possible, provided there is no imposition of timetable.

The G4 countries - India, Brazil, Japan and Germany, which are supporting each other's bid for permanent seats - plan to seek a vote in the Assembly on a resolution calling for expansion of the Council with addition of six permanent and three non permanent members, but without mentioning any names.

Later, the G-4 nations plan to introduce another resolution to seek permanent seats for themselves. It is yet unclear whether the vote would be on individual Member State or they would run as a Slate.

The remaining two permanent members would be from Africa and the four are awaiting the result of consultations among Africans on the issue.

But Wang told reporter that the best way to achieve a good result is to work for consensus. "While the permanent five are conducting bilateral exchange of views among themselves, they have not met as a group to discuss the Council's expansion," he told reporters.

Though the Chinese Government has not yet announced its position on various candidates, it has also not discouraged a signature campaign against Japan becoming a permanent member.

Stating that there are major differences, Wang said he believed that "if we do not set a time table, we do not impose any timeframe, then we are giving Member State a bit more time and I believe that we can come up with some broad agreement"

But diplomats say the process of consensus building could continue indefinitely and that makes it necessary to bring the matter before the 191-member Assembly and seek a vote.

Among the permanent members, Britain, France and Russia have expressed strong support for G-4 taking their place among the permanent members but the United States has not given firm indication and China says that it has yet to take any decision.

Any of the five could veto but diplomats say it would difficult for Washington and Beijing to veto any proposal adopted by two-thirds majority by the Assembly.