Diplomatic debate: Pakistan opposes new members in UNSC

Says there should be no new centres of privilege.

UNITED NATIONS:

The UN General Assembly concluded a two-day debate on Security Council reforms during which Pakistan opposed the creation of new permanent seats in the 15-member body.

“There should be no new centres of privilege,” Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan told the 193-member assembly in the course of the debate in which some 80 delegations took part.

Quoting from Premier Nawaz Sharif’s address in the General Assembly, the Masood said, “We need a reform that carries the interests of all; not the ambitions of a few.”

The intended reform must plan for a dynamic future, not entrench or replicate historical patterns, based on prerogatives and privileges, he said. Pakistan, he said, would respect and understand Africa’s collective demand for the continent’s enhanced role in the Council, Masood added.

The Pakistani envoy said the group of four countries, G-4 (Brazil, India, Germany and Japan), who are pushing for permanent seats in the council, were trying to foist their position on the membership as an irreversible accomplishment.

“Their position is anchored in power politics. They seem to be saying that because of their political stature and economic prowess, they now qualify to have a special status at the UN, which the other UN members do not”.  Masood said the UfC has flexibility and was ready for negotiations.

Earlier, the G-4 complained during the debate in general assembly about the slow pace of reform in the UNSC.

The reform process started in 1993 but despite assurances from US, Britain and France, there has been no progress on the permanent seats.

The G-4, frustrated over the past setbacks, are mounting political pressure to force a decision that could coincide with the 70th anniversary of the UN falling in 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2013.