Pakistan opposes India’s quest for seat

Islamabad says move will have serious implications in a clear message to the US.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has opposed India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council on the eve of US President Barrack Obama’s visit to India, where the issue is likely to figure high up on the agenda during his talks with the Indian leadership.

Obama, who begins his three-day maiden visit to India today, will skip Pakistan, as he promised to tour the country separately in 2011.

However, the visit is being followed very closely in Pakistan as the National Assembly’s Kashmir Committee met on Friday and was given a detailed briefing by the Foreign Office about the US president’s trip.

The Foreign Office informed the meeting that Pakistan believes any two sovereign states are entitled to develop their bilateral relations along lines that they deem fit.

However, it cautioned the US president against taking measures that disturb the regional balance.

“It is Pakistan’s considered view that anything that militates against the regional balance in South Asia is counterproductive and not in the interest of the region and the world,” said a Foreign Office statement.

In response to a question about the US endorsing India’s permanent seat, the Foreign Office officials told members that Pakistan’s approach to the reform of the Security Council was based on principles.

The committee was informed that Pakistan believes that decisions impacting global systems of inter-state relations based on the charter require consensus.

“The spirit and the principles of the charter should not be compromised. The principle of sovereign equality is a cardinal one.”

In a clear message to the US president, Pakistan said that any endorsement of the Indian bid for a permanent seat in the Security Council will have serious implications.  It will also have negative impact on issues relating to peace and security in South Asia.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2010.