Pakistan with a massive majority vote today has been elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Pakistan is replacing Japan which occupied the Asian seat, on January 1, 2012, to begin a two-year term that is the eighth in number.
Pakistan is holding this position in the world’s power center to make its contribution in meeting the grave challenges the world is facing the world obtaining 182 votes out of the 193 in the UN General Assembly which is much more than the required 124 votes.
General Assembly President, Dennis Francis, announced the winners of the five non-permanent seats including Pakistan, Denmark, Greece, Panama, and Somalia. They are to replace Japan, Ecuador, Malta, Mozambique, and Switzerland whose terms are ending on December 31. He congratulated them on their victory. Pakistan has been holding this position in 1952-53, 1968-69, 1976-77, 1983-84, 1993-94, 2003-04, and in 2012-13.
The new members will join the five permanent members — USA, Russia, China, UK, and France — and the five non-permanent members elected last year including Algeria, Guyana, South Korea, Sierra Leone, and Slovenia. The 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-member UNSC are allotted to regional groups who usually select their candidates but sometimes can’t agree on one but this year no such surprise was witnessed.
Last year, Slovenia defeated Russia’s close ally Belarus representing the East European regional group. This time, the regional groups put forward Somalia for an African seat, Pakistan for an Asia-Pacific seat, Panama for a Latin America and Caribbean seat, and Denmark and Greece for two mainly Western seats. The new members will start their terms on Jan 1, 2025.
The UNSC is mandated for international peace and security, but because of Russia’s veto power it has been unable to take action on Ukraine, and for US with Israel could not call for cessation in Gaza. Virtually every country agrees that almost eight decades after the UN was established the UNSC needs expansion, but for differences in the interests of 193 countries it could not happen to bring a significant reform.
The Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN Munir Akram said Pakistan’s election represents the confidence of the international community and an ability to promote the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. He said he would actively work with other member countries to advance the shared objectives.
Pakistan is joining the UNSC at a time when the world is facing multiple challenges and needs attention concerning peace and security in South Asia. Among these issues are the upholding of the self-determination for the people of Palestine and Kashmir, normalization in Afghanistan, security challenges in Africa, and, enhancing the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations. Pakistan made a vital contribution for strengthening international peace and security over the last 50 years. Pakistan is among the major contributor in the UN peacekeeping efforts. It has over 4,000 troops and other personnel deployed in the UN peacekeeping missions around the world. (By Rana Kashif)
