The Group of four countries - India, Brazil Germany and Japan - and the African Union (AU) failed during Friday's working-level meeting to resolve differences over their competing resolutions on expanding the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), diplomats said.
The G-4 aspirants to permanent seats in an expanded Council, and representatives of 53-member AU have been meeting at ambassadorial level in New York since July 17 when their foreign ministers ended a marathon session without agreement on a common text.
Now the matter goes back to the foreign ministers of G-4 and the AU, who are rushing to London to make another attempt on Monday to try and unify their respective texts.
The same day - Monday - the Italy/Pakistan-led "Uniting for Consensus" (UfC) group, which opposed additional permanent members on the Council, will formally introduce its draft resolution in the UN General Assembly.
The 12-power UfC draft, a counter to the G-4 proposal calls for an increase of 10 elected members with renewable two-year terms to make the Council a 25-member body.
The G-4's resolution calls for an increase of six permanent members, whose veto power would be frozen for 15 years, and tour non-permanent members on the Council. The African Union (AU)proposes a 26-member Council, with an increase of six permanent members, all with the veto power, and five non-permanent members. Without the backing of the 53-nation African Union, the G-4 would not be able to secure the required two-thirds or 128 "yes" votes for the adoption of its draft by the 91-nation General Assembly.
African diplomats said that the joint G-4-AU foreign minister-level meeting could be preceded by discussions among African foreign ministers and top officials in an effort to reconcile their internal differences.