South Africa, Brazil and India on Tuesday called for the reform of the United Nations Security Council, saying the body did not reflect the realities of the modern world.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, speaking at the India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) summit in Pretoria, said the UN security council “needs more legitimacy”.
President Jacob Zuma said the body was “skewed in favour of the developed North”.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the three countries needed to work together on UN issues.
But he too said that it needed to be reformed.
“The United Nations Security Council must be enlarged to reflect present day realities.”
All three leaders called on European Union leaders to resolve the sovereign debt crisis that was having a knock-on effect across the globe.
Rousseff said: “We need a credible agreement to prevent the crisis from getting out of control.”
Proper regulation of the financial systems could no longer be delayed.
She called for peace in Syria and criticised the action of Nato in Libya.
Armed intervention in Libya had not brought about the peace that was needed in the North African country, she said.
In his opening remarks at the annual summit, Zuma also called on all three countries to work together in fighting piracy in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. - Sapa