Pakistan vows to raise Kashmir issue at UN

Calls for plebiscite to enable Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination

UNITED NATIONS:

Marking the UN Day, Pakistan renewed on Sunday its pledge to continue to press for the implementation of the Security Council resolutions, which call for a plebiscite to enable Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination.

“Like other colonial enterprises, India’s attempt to annex Kashmir will be defeated by the steadfast demand of the Kashmiri people for freedom and liberty,” Ambassador Munir Akram said in a message congratulating the UN community on the occasion.

After referring to the developments since the establishment of the UN 76 years ago, the Pakistani envoy said the promise of peace and prosperity envisaged in the organisation’s charter today faced multiple challenges.

These include, the worst pandemic in modern history which has reversed decades of development; an existential climate crisis; revived great power tensions; a new and wider arms race; the persistence and proliferation of conflicts and disputes; and the rise of extremist, fascist and terrorist groups in several regions.

Ambassador Akram warned that the world order enabled by the UN could collapse under the weight of these multiple threats and challenges, and said these challenges can only be addressed by and within the world body.

In this regard, he said the UN’s principal organs – the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Human Rights Council – would have to be strengthened and made more effective, democratic and relevant.

Pakistan, he said, plays a “central and constructive” role in evolving decisions within the UN on economic, development, security and other issues.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan’s proposals for debt relief, larger concessional finance, the creation of new IMF (International Monetary Fund) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and their redistribution to developing countries, a halt in illicit financial flows from poorer countries to ‘safe havens’, all these proposals have been reflected in international policy decisions,” Ambassador Akram pointed out.

“Pakistan’s troops also continue to play a major role in the UN’s peacekeeping operations.”

The UN membership, he said, recognises Pakistan’s important role in stabilising Afghanistan in the wake of the recent dramatic developments, preventing a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse, promoting peace through reconciliation, and ensuring that no terrorism emanates from Afghanistan’s territory.

The 193 UN member states, he said, must place their faith in the the Charter’s principles and purposes, which remain immutable and relevant to address the current global and regional challenges confronting the international community.