India-Brazil-South Africa make strong pitch for ambitious, comprehensive and profound reform of UN

Foreign Ministers of India-Brazil-South Africa or IBSA recent met on the margins of UNGA and called for an urgent and comprehensive reform of global governance institutions, increasing meaningful participation of developing and least-developed countries in their decision-making bodies, processes, and structures, thus building a more legitimate and more effective multilateral system with the UN at its center.

The Ministers called for an ambitious, comprehensive and profound reform of the UN, particularly the UN Security Council (UNSC) which may include the convening of a review conference, in accordance with article 109 of the Charter, to adapt it to contemporary geopolitical realities and address new global challenges, such as climate change, socio-economic inequality, the energy transition, digitalisation and other emerging issues affecting the international community, according to a statement issued after the meeting that was attended by Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, S Jaishankar, EAM, and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira in New York.

The Ministers expressed their support for a transformative reform of the UNSC, making it more democratic, representative, legitimate, effective, and reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities, with increased participation, in both the permanent, and non-permanent membership categories, of developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the IBSA statement.


The Ministers voiced their support for the legitimate aspiration of African countries to have a permanent presence in the UNSC, as well as for Brazil’s and India’s legitimate aspirations to occupy permanent seats in the Security Council.

In this context, the Ministers expressed concern with the paralysis observed at the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on UNSC reform, which have so far failed to produce a consolidated model based on proposals presented by member States as mandated in the Pact for the Future.

While recalling that this consolidated model must reflect the support expressed by a significant majority of UN member states for an expansion in both categories of Security Council membership, they stressed that the time has come to move towards a result-oriented process and urged the redoubling of efforts to achieve concrete outcomes within a fixed time frame on this issue through the commencement of text-based negotiations, in a formal setting, during UNGA81, with a view to an early comprehensive reform of the Security Council.

In light of the ongoing selection process of the next Secretary-General of the UN, the Ministers noted that no woman has ever been elected for the role of Secretary General, and only one national from Latin America and Caribbean, and only two nationals from Africa and Asia each have ever occupied this position.

The three Ministers expressed concern over the continued escalation of tensions in the Middle East and emphasized the importance of protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure in accordance with international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States in the region.

The Ministers further noted with concern that renewed threats of military action and intimidation will only serve to jeopardise ongoing dialogue, mediation and confidence-building efforts in the region.

The Ministers noted with concern that conflicts in the Middle East also have a negative spill-over effect on countries of the Global South, notably in respect of energy and food security, leading to further inflationary and fiscal pressures.

The IBSA Foreign Ministers meet expressed deep concern about the continued violence in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement of October 2025. They called for halting any policies aimed at forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza Strip and expressed concern regarding arrangements that may prejudice the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and legitimise or prolong occupation.

The Ministers reaffirmed that a just and lasting solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict can only be achieved by peaceful means and depends on the fulfilment of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and expressed their support for the admission of Palestine as a member of the UN.