At UNSC

Pakistan plays decisive role in lessening discord in veto politics and big powers’ rivalry at UNSC

Pakistan securing a non-permanent member seat at the United Nations Security Council is a laudable feast. It has many achievements to boast. The first among them was Islamabad’s endorsement as a candidature on the Asia-Pacific bloc. The second laurel was that it bagged 182 votes out of 190, and only three states went against it. As it is a secret ballot, it is widely quipped that India too nodded in Pakistan’s favour on the premise of being an Asian contestant, as is the convention at the world body. Likewise, Somalia, Denmark, Greece and Panama were other four states that returned to the influential fora for a period of two years to test the waters of realpolitik.

This is for the eight time that Pakistan will be rubbing shoulders with the Big-Five at the UNSC, as it takes on the seat from January 1 next year. While Pakistan has been an active member at the forum putting its weight behind any goodwill initiative for furthering peace and security, irrespective of any partisanship, it will have a greater role to play as the world body is seized with two major conflicts: the Russo-Ukraine war and the imbroglio in Palestine. Similarly, the country is a valued contributor when it comes to peacekeeping assignments, and its soldiers’ writ and competence as Blue Helmets is exceptional. Thus, the year 2025-26 should see Pakistan pitching itself as an honest monitor to oversee turbulent regions under the UN control, and do its bit in all humility.

The UNSC as the sole authority to make legally binding decisions, including the imposition of sanctions and authorisation of the use of force, will have to broaden its compass and see why there is so much of revulsion in the developing states, and how tranquility could be restored in Southwest Asia and many of the flashpoints in Africa. Rising multilateralism and due representation of the Global South should be Pakistan’s prime talking points. Pakistan, with an exceptional geopolitical clout, has a decisive role to play in lessening the discord that is institutionally rooted in veto politics and big powers’ rivalry.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2024.

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