Here’s what PM Narendra Modi said at the G4 Summit, New York

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in New York on Saturday. The four leaders form what is known as the G-4 group - countries which back each other's bid for permanent seats at the UN Security Council.

He pressed for UNSC reform within a “fixed timeframe” in the current session of the UNGA, saying the world body reflects the mindset of a century “we left behind” and is not in tune with new concerns like terrorism and climate change

He also added that the UNSC “must include the world’s largest democracies, major locomotives of the global economy, and voices from all the major continents” to carry “greater credibility and legitimacy”, making it more representative and effective in addressing the challenges of the 21st century.

The four leaders were meeting after a period of 10 years. G-4 is a grouping which has been jointly pushing for reform of the UN Security Council to make it broad-based by including them as permanent members.

Modi referred to the recent decision of the UNGA to commence text-based negotiations on UN reforms and said, “After decades, we finally see some movement. The 69th Session of the General Assembly has taken a significant step forward”.

At the same time, he added, “this is just the first step. We should aim to take this process to its logical conclusion during the 70th session.”

Talking about G-4, he said, “Our Group of four countries came together in 2004, bound by our shared commitment to global peace and prosperity, our faith in multilateralism and our willingness to assume our global responsibilities that the world expects from us.”

Image credit: Indiatimes