New Bid To Expand Security Council

The three believe the Security Council's membership should be increased from 15 to 25, with six new permanent members and four new non-permanent seats.

The proposal is similar to one presented last year by Brazil, Germany, India and Japan that failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly.

The proposal ran into opposition from the United States and China, both of whom have permanent seats in the current 15-member UN Security Council.  

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Japan was not formally sponsoring this latest reform proposal.

(AFP)