Pakistan has said its stance on Russia-Ukraine conflict has not changed, insisting that the country had taken a “principled stance” on the issue that is seen as a major diplomatic test for Islamabad to maintain balance in its ties with big powers.
The statement from the Foreign Office spokesperson at the weekly briefing on Friday came just days after Pakistan, despite pressure from the US and its allies, abstained from another resolution against Russia in the United Nations General Assembly session.
Asim Iftikhar said Pakistan does not want to be a part of any bloc politics in the world and that its stance on Ukraine was based on principles.
“We want to have broad-based, objective, balanced and mutually beneficial relationships with all major powers, including the United States and China,” the spokesperson added.
The Ukrainian conflict has deepened divisions in the world with the US and its allies on one side and Russia and its partners on the other.
Pakistan, however, maintained a delicate balance on the brewing conflict. While Islamabad expressed concerns over the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, it stopped short of condemning Russia.
Ahead of the latest resolution, observers were keenly following whether Pakistan would bring shift in its stance following the flurry of engagements between Islamabad and Washington after the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan in April.
However, Pakistan maintained its “neutrality” as it abstained from the voting on the resolution against Russia.
This was the second time in seven months that Pakistan abstained from the voting against Russia at the UN General Assembly as part of its efforts to maintain neutrality on Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The UN adopted the resolution by a large majority urging the countries not to recognise the four regions of Ukraine which Russia has claimed, following referendums held late last month, and demanding that Moscow reverse course on its “attempted illegal annexation”.
The vote in the 193-member world body was 143 in favour to five against, with 35 abstentions. India, which earlier voted against Russian demand for secret ballot on the resolution, abstained too, maintaining its earlier stance on the conflict.
The resolution “defending the principles” of the UN Charter notes that the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are temporarily occupied by Russia as a result of aggression, violating Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence.
Defending Pakistan’s move to abstain from voting, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN regretted that the co-sponsors of the resolution did not accept proposals for an immediate peaceful resolution of the conflict.
“Pakistan fully supports the resolution’s call for respect for the principle of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states – a principle which also applies to Ukraine, as to other member states. States cannot be torn apart by the use of force. These principles must be consistently and universally respected,” he explained.
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