Wednesday, May 4 2005 13:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said it would be "utopian" and "unrealistic" to expect the current permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to give up their veto power or allow new permanent members to have this right.

"It's Utopian and one shouldn't even think it or try. What is important is to expand the Council to make it more representative and more democratic so that other regions that until now have been under-represented will also be in the Council," he told a meeting of International Women's Forum yesterday (May 3, 2005).

Annan said the consensus existed on the need to expand the Council but when one comes to details, one runs into "some very serious divisions".

"It could be quite some time before we again have before us such an impressive constellation of ideas, proposals and engagement. So let us act while these stars are in alignment," he said at the 30th anniversary meeting of the Forum.

For the Security Council expansion, Annan has proposed two plans. One of them would add six permanent members to the Council and the other will create a new category of non-permanent members with a four-year renewable term. Neither plan would give new members a veto.

However, India, Japan, Germany and Brazil, who are strong contenders for permanent seats, reject any proposal, which seeks expansion only in the non-permanent category.