UNITED NATIONS, May 5: In an effort to bridge differences among member states over the contentious expansion of the 15-member UN Security Council, the G-4 envoys — Japan, Germany, India and Brazil — will meet on Monday with the representatives of a group known as “Uniting for Consensus” led by Pakistan, diplomats here said. The meeting will be hosted by the president of UN General Assembly, Jean Ping, the sources said.

Diplomats here said that the two sides would sit down and state their positions and discuss ways to narrow their differences in order to reach a compromise. “Both sides agree that Security Council, the most powerful organ of the world body, must be expanded to reflect new realities of the 21st century, but that’s where it all ends”, said one diplomat.

On Monday, Italy and Pakistan submitted two new proposals for expanding the UN Security Council that would give regional groups more power to choose candidates and dictate the length of their term. Italy’s UN Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, who submitted the proposals to the president of UNGA, Jean Ping, said that he was doing so “in the spirit of building consensus” two alternative plans based on the secretary-general’s model.

“They (the two plans) have no ‘national trademark’ behind, their aim being to generate creative thinking beyond A and B (Mr Annan’s models), and to promote an inclusive approach within broad and transparent consultations among all UN members ...” Ambassador Spatafora said in a letter to the General Assembly president.

The “Uniting for Consensus” group, which includes China, opposes enlargement of the council in the permanent category. India, Brazil, Germany and Japan have staked their claim for permanent seats and are pushing for a vote in the 191-member General Assembly. They have proposed an addition of 10 non-permanent members to the 15-nation council instead of nine envisaged in Mr Annan’s two models, one of which includes permanent members and the other longer-term seats.

Last week Japan hosted another meeting of UN member states for seeking their support in its quest to seek a permanent slot with Germany, India and Brazil hanging on its coat-tails. The Japanese delegation had indicated that G-4 will table a resolution in the 191-member General Assembly seeking a vote on the issue. But the diplomats here expressed scepticism they could secure a two-thirds majority required to approve such a package.

Pakistan’s Ambassador Munir Akram warned that any hasty resolution to expand the UN Security Council without consensus will heighten the divisions among the member states and derail efforts for UN reform, deepen regional tensions, and turn the “United Nations” into “Divided Nations.”

Mr Akram told a UNGA meeting that the enlargement of the Security Council “should not merely serve the national ambitions of a few large countries; it should respond to the national interests of all member states”.

“Pakistan has, therefore, consistently opposed the concept of creating new permanent members,” he said.