UNSC election 2011: China to back Pakistan for non-permanent seat

China supports Pakistan playing a bigger part in maintaining international peace and security.

NEW YORK:
India’s hopes of getting backing from China for a seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) were dashed on Wednesday when the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was considering Pakistan instead for the non-permanent seat, The Times of India reported.

China attaches great importance to Pakistan's request for a non-permanent seat on the UNSC, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

This follows after India's attempt in September this year to obtain a permanent seat in the UNSC had finally fizzled out due to lack of support from other member states, after an intensive six-year campaign.

Pakistan voiced its desire to have a seat on the UNSC at the 66th General Assembly session in September.

China supports Pakistan playing a bigger part in maintaining international peace and security, Jiang said at a daily press briefing, noting that China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners.

UNSC consists of five permanent members - China, France, Russia, the United States and Britain, and 10 other non-permanent members that are elected for two-year terms.


An election scheduled for Friday will determine the new non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a UN official told reporters.

Earlier United Arab Emirates (UAE) too extended its support to Pakistan for its candidacy for a United Nation’s Security Council non-permanent seat.

Meanwhile Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdullah Haroon says he was confident of country's success in the elections on Friday.

Pakistan‚ a six-term candidate for the Asian seat on the Security Council‚ faces a challenge from Kyrgyzstan. Those elected‚ will replace Lebanon‚ Bosnia & Herzegovina‚ Brazil‚ Gabon and Nigeria‚ whose two-year terms end on December 31, 2011.

Earlier in 2010, US President Obama had hinted on supporting India’s demand to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council while Beijing had welcomed India's election as a non-permanent member of UNSC but didn’t disclose its intentions about supporting New Delhi's case for a permanent member. China is the only one of the five permanent members of UNSC that has not announced its decision to support India.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mentioned that India was disturbed by China backing Pakistan for the UNSC seat, this is incorrect. The error is regretted.
Load Next Story