Mr. President,

Thank you for giving me the floor. My delegation aligns itself with the statements made today by the distinguished Permanent Representative of St Lucia on behalf of the L69 group, and the distinguished Permanent Representative of Germany on behalf of the G4 group.

At the outset, allow me to compliment you for convening this important debate under agenda item 121, which has been a matter of discussion in the UN General Assembly for more than two decades. We recall that it was India, along with a group of developing countries, which had proposed the General Assembly Resolution A/RES/47/62, inscribing this item on our agendafor the first time in September 1992.

We note the significance of the unanimous Decision of the General Assembly No. 69/560 of 14 September 2015 taken under the Presidency of H.E. Sam Kutesa, which has given us a negotiating text for implementing the mandate of all our leaders taken in the World Summit of 2005 for early reforms of the UN Security Council.

We would like to acknowledge and compliment our colleague, Ambassador Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica, for having so successfully given this Inter Governmental Negotiation process the negotiating text of 31 July 2015.

We are happy to have received your letter of 23 October 2015 informing us of your decision to appoint a Chairperson for these Inter Governmental Negotiations during the historic 70th session of the General Assembly, and providing her with a clear mandate to conduct these negotiations on the basis of the negotiating text of 31 July 2015 which was unanimously endorsed in the General Assembly's Decision 69/560.

We are happy also to share with the General Assembly this morning the common position of the 3rd India Africa Forum Summit, which concluded in New Delhi yesterday, for the early implementation of Decision 69/560, so as to make a decisive push for achieving a concrete outcomes on the reform of the UN Security Council.

We commit ourselves at this meeting, which is the first time we are speaking on this issue in the 70th session of the General Assembly, to work in good faith, through the give and take of negotiations, with the Chairperson in reaching our objective of a concrete outcome during this historic 70th session of the General Assembly.

We especially look forward to engaging in this process with those member states who have expressed important ideas during the course of this morning's debate, but who have yet to contribute to the negotiating text of 31 July 2015. We note that the provisions of the General Assembly's Resolution A/RES/53/30 of 23 November 1998, which was unanimously adopted by all of us, agreeing on a two-thirds majority for decisions on the issue of UN Security Council reforms, is the applicable rule in this context.

We heed the call for urgently reforming the ineffective Security Council made by many world leaders during the recent High Level Debate held at the beginning of the 70th session of our Assembly. We note that that an ineffective Security Council has meant huge human, economic and environmental costs in terms of wars and conflicts, which the international community cannot justify. The figures speak for themselves, especially the single biggest statistic of more than 60 million people affected by the malfunctioning of the Security Council.

Mr. President,

We would also emphasize that our work cannot be seen in isolation as some kind of academic exercise which has no relation to the world in which we live in. The very fact that our leaders, unanimously, adopted the most ambitious Agenda 2030 to eradicate poverty from the face of the earth within one generation gives our work a context and framework. The longer we delay in reforming the Security Council, the more pressure we put on the successful implementation of Agenda 2030, especially for developing countries.

We have two specific requests for your consideration:

One,  we would request the announcement of a fixed schedule of meetings of the IGN beginning early next month, at a regular interval to commence text based negotiations.  All member states should be informed in advance of the frequency, agenda and schedule of the meetings. The meetings should be held at least once a week given the urgency of the subject at hand.

Second, we look forward to the Chairperson circulating a communication under your authority conveying the substantive agenda of these negotiations during the 70th Session,  based on the text and structure of the document of 31 July 2015 which incorporates General Assembly Decision 62/552 referred to by many delegations today. This will help delegations obtain their negotiating mandates for the specific cluster of negotiations well in time. 

Mr. President, 

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Statement in this august Assembly last month. He said, 

'we must reform the United Nations, including its Security Council, so that it carries greater credibility and legitimacy and will be more representative and effective in achieving our goals. 

There is no cause greater than shaping a world, in which every life that enters it can look to a future of security, opportunity and dignity; and, where we leave our environment in better shape for the next generation. And, no cause that is more challenging. 

At 70, we are called to rise to that challenge, with our wisdom, experience, generosity, compassion, skills and technology. I am confident that we can.' 

I thank you Mr. President.