Pakistan opposes hijacking agenda of UN reforms
Pakistan Times Federal Bureau Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Saturday said it is strongly against the proposal to increase the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and stressed the agenda of UN reforms should not be hijacked.

“We oppose the expansion of the UNSC and veto power in principle as we believe strongly in the principle of sovereign equality of states,” Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri told the Chinese news agency Xinhua in an interview here.

Pakistan, along with Italy, took the lead in uniting the countries opposed to the expansion and was trying to build a “broad consensus.”

He urged the Group of Four (G4)—Germany, Japan, India and Brazil which are striving for permanent seats—not to stir up division in the world body.

“We also appeal the G4 not to divide the world community as the opportunity to work on the UN reforms would be missed, if there were a stalemate on this issue,” he said.

Perspective

Germany, Japan, India and Brazil have circulated a draft resolution calling for an increase of 10 seats in the UNSC—six new permanent seats and four non-permanent ones. They are determined to present the draft at the UN General Assembly meeting in July.

When asked about his remarks last week that the agenda of the UN reform was being “hijacked,” Kasuri said, “No one is talking about the UN reform and the entire focus is on adding more seats to the Security Council.”

He said there was a need to adopt a “holistic approach” and have “very in-depth discussions” on the UN reform which should promote democracy, efficiency and accountability with a stress on development. However it was not happening, Kasuri regretted.

Pakisan's Standpoint

On Pakistan’s position, Kasuri said we favor the Plan B which is against having additional permanent members in the UNSC, but it was also willing to view other proposals which are closer to Plan B but not to that of the G4.

Kasuri said the stance was based on principles as Pakistan believed the increase in UNSC permanent seats would deny representation of a vast majority of UN members.

He made it clear that the position had nothing to do with the fact that India was desirous of getting a permanent seat. “Our position is based on principles,” he said, adding Pakistan and India have been engaged in dialogues to resolve their outstanding issues and improve ties.

Sino-Pakistani Ties

As for the Sino-Pakistani ties, Kasuri considered the signing of the Pakistan-China strategic agreement on establishing friendly and good-neighborly relations in April as a “major event.”

“It will put in place an institutional mechanism to discuss all strategic issues in a systematic way and take into account each others’ concerns,” Kasuri said.

He thanked China for its support for Pakistan in getting an observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was founded in Shanghai in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At a meeting early this month in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, the SCO members agreed in principle to give Pakistan, India and Iran observer status. The SCO will make a formal decision on the issue at the summit scheduled for July in Astana.

Kasuri said the regional body would provide Pakistan and China another platform to promote their cooperation.

Issue of Kashmir

On the issue of Kashmir which has triggered two major wars between Pakistan and India, Kasuri said Pakistan is prepared to show flexibility provided India were willing to do the same. “There cannot be any unilateral flexibility as it shows weakness and weakness never leads to peace,” he said.

Kasuri said Pakistan desires peace with India as it wants to focus on development. “We need to focus on poverty reduction, rather on defense expenditure,” he said but added quickly it would not do so unilaterally.

On Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on June 12 that the time had come to make efforts to convert Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world, into a “peace mountain,” Kasuri said that Pakistan welcomes the statement and has the same desire. But he pointed out that progress is needed on the issue.

Kasuri said it is important to solve the Kashmir issue and the must be solution acceptable to all the parties concerned.●