BY HAMZA AMEER
Islamabad– Pakistan has been offered to launch its candidature for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council by some powerful western countries, who have suggested Islamabad to opt for the option in order to break the ongoing deadlock to reform the UN’s charter.
Interestingly, sources revealed that Pakistan has rejected the offer as the country viewed it as part of a deliberate tactic to weaken the group that is opposed to the expansion of permanent seats at the UNSC.
Confirming the news about offer to Pakistan by some influential western countries, a diplomatic source said the idea was turned down because there were questions on its genuineness.
“Some powerful countries have approached us and said Pakistan should launch its bid for the permanent seat at the UNSC. Pakistan turned down the idea since it knew the offer was not genuine but the ploy to push Islamabad to leave the Uniting for Consensus (UFC) group that is opposed to the expansion of the UNSC,” said the official.
This comes at a time when Pakistan-Italy led group UFC was able to foil the latest push by the G-4 group, comprising India, Brazil, Germany and Japan to seek expansion in the UNSC permanent members.
UFC, a group comprising at least 13 countries including Pakistan, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Argentina, Spain and Turkey, has been lobbying against increasing the permanent seats at the UNSC.
The United Nation General Assembly recently decided to roll over the inter-governmental negotiations (IGNs) on the Security Council reform to the next General Assembly session. UFC claims it to be its success.
UFC, in contrast to G4, has proposed additional non-permanent seats with longer duration in term and possibility to get re-elected.
“The process to reform the UNSC had to kickstart from the UNGA. For any reforms, it required a vote of the two-thirds members of the 193-strong UNGA. At present, neither side has the required number,” said an official from the foreign office.
“Unlike the G-4, the UFC is not merely seeking reforms through the two-thirds vote but a wider consensus in order to avoid any hiccup in the reform process, which involves several delicate and complicated steps. G-4 had been pushing for years for moving from oral negotiations to text-based negotiations. But Pakistan, along with other countries of UFC have been opposing the move because agreement on text-based negotiations means locking the proposals and discussions, which the G-4 desperately wants,” the official added.
At present, the UNSC has at least five permanent members with veto powers while 10 non-permanent members get elected for a two-year term. (IANS)
