Pakistan warns against resource-driven conflicts

Pakistan told the UN Security Council that the world's natural resources must serve as instruments of economic development and shared prosperity, and not coercion or conflict, as critical minerals now underpin the technologies powering the digital economy and the energy transition.

"The scramble for natural resources and its linkage to conflict and instability is not new," Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said in a debate on "Energy, critical minerals and security" under the 15-member Council's agenda item "Maintenance of international peace and security."

Advocating a change of course, he said, the upsurge has generated new geopolitical and geo-economic pressures.

"If not managed responsibly, competition over natural resources can affect supply chains, aggravate tensions, undermine sovereignty, and contribute to instability."

In this regard, the Pakistani envoy underscored that shared water resources are indispensable for sustaining life, and for sustainable development and prosperity.

"We reject the weaponization of water to choke this lifeline for lower riparians, also threatening regional peace, security and stability," Ambassador Asim Ahmad said.

Pakistan, he said, is itself confronted with water terrorism by India that has resorted to unilateral and unlawful action of putting in abeyance the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in violations of international law and the provisions of that Treaty.

"The international community must impress upon India to return to full compliance with the Indus Waters Treaty, which remains valid and in-force as per the August 2025 award of the Court of Arbitration."

United States Secretary of Energy Chris Wright chaired the meeting, as US holds the presidency of the Security Council for the month of March.

"Where mineral wealth intersects with weak governance, entrenched poverty and external interference, the risks of instability increase," Ambassador Asim Ahmad said, referring to several conflict-affected settings, illicit extraction, trafficking networks and opaque financial flows have fuelling armed conflict and violence, weakening state institutions and depriving populations of legitimate revenues.

"The production and trade in critical minerals must respect national ownership, domestic priorities, and the right of developing countries to pursue value addition and industrialization, with a view to transforming them from mere raw material exporters to integrated hubs for processing and refining," he said