UNSC reform co-chairs say they find ‘openness to dialogue’

United Nations, Dec 15 (IANS) The co-chairs of the Security Council reform process have been holding informal consultations with various countries and have reported that they found "openness to dialogue", an official said.

Brenden Varma, the spokesperson for General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, said this on Thursday.

The next meeting for the reform process known as the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) is scheduled for January 29 and 30, he added.

IGN co-chairs, Kaha Imnadze of Georgia and Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, have written to Lajcak that they will be circulating around the middle of January the topics for discussion at the meeting, Varma said.

They reported in the letter that "member States are approaching the process constructively - not only making compelling cases for their positions, but also expressing openness to dialogue and exchange of creative ideas", he added.

The co-chairs wrote that they would be holding several more IGN meetings after getting inputs from the first session.

India, which seeks a permanent seat in the reformed Security Council, is heavily invested in the reform process.

Lajcak rebooted the reform process in November, saying, "The time for trying is up; now is the time for action," and appointing Imnadze and Nusseibeh as IGN co-chairs.

The negotiation process has been stalled for more than a decade with the 193 members of the UN unable to even agree on a negotiating document that would set the agenda and be the starting point for real negotiations on reforms.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

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