<P> There have been proposals suggesting the introduction of new permanent members . The candidates usually mentioned are Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan . They comprise the group of four countries known as the G4 nations, which mutually support one another's bids for permanent seats . </P> <P> This sort of reform has traditionally been opposed by the "Uniting for Consensus" group, which is composed primarily of nations that are regional rivals and economic competitors of the G4 . The group is led by Italy and Spain (opposing Germany), Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina (opposing Brazil), Pakistan (opposing India), and South Korea (opposing Japan), in addition to Turkey, Indonesia and others . Since 1992, Italy and other council members have instead proposed semi-permanent seats or expanding the number of temporary seats . </P> <P> Most of the leading candidates for permanent membership are regularly elected onto the Security Council by their respective groups . Japan was elected for eleven two - year terms, Brazil for ten terms, and Germany for three terms . India has been elected to the council seven times in total, with the most recent successful bid being in 2010 after a gap of almost twenty years since 1991--92 . </P> <P> In 2013, the P5 and G4 members of the UN Security Council accounted for eight of the world's ten largest defense budgets, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). </P>

What was the role of the united nations security council who were the five permanent members