Pakistan wins backing for UNSC seat

UNITED NATIONS/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has won the unanimous endorsement of the Asia-Pacific Group for its candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the term 2025-2026, with top Pakistani officials pledging to uphold the world body’s charter.

Thanking the 55-member group for the support and confidence, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in a tweet Pakistan was determined to make its contributions while upholding the principles of UN Charter.

The foreign minister, in a tweet, said: "I thank the members of Asia Pacific Group at UN in NY for their support & confidence in unanimously endorsing Pakistan’s candidature to the UN Security Council for the term 2025-2026."

Pakistan was determined to make its contributions while upholding the principles of the United Nations Charter, he added.

Pakistan will now be seeking election as this region’s endorsed candidate. The election for the seat will be held by the General Assembly in June 2024 in New York.

“The unanimous support of the Asia-Pacific Group for Pakistan’s Security Council candidature reflects the general recognition in the international community, including in the Asia-Pacific region, of Pakistan’s positive role in upholding the fundamental purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” the Pakistan envoy said in an interview with APP.

Meanwhile, diplomats said that more than 20 countries made statements in the Asia Pacific Group meeting strongly supporting Pakistan’s candidature.

They include Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kiribati, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Malaysia, Papua Guinea, Qatar, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

The ambassadors of China, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as well as other delegates applauded Pakistan’s commitment to peace, security, development and global cooperation.

Pakistan has been elected seven times to the UN Security Council, with the most recent term in 2013. Other occasions were in 1952-1953, 1968-1969, 1976-1977, 1983-1984, 1993-1994 and 2003-2004.

Pakistan is also one of the countries which has had a diplomat, Muhammad Zafarulla Khan, serve a term as the president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1962.

Pakistan has been a leading contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations in hotspots around the world. More than 200,000 Pakistani men and women have served in 46 UN missions across the world. Of them, 171 peacekeepers made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of international peace and security.