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Saturday, October 22, 2011
Pakistan elected to UN Security Council as non-permanent member* Morocco, Guatemala also win Security Council seats
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan was on Friday elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the world body’s power centre.
Pakistan, which was challenged by Kyrgyzstan, was backed by 129 of the 193 member states in the General Assembly. Kyrgyzstan polled 55 votes.
Pakistan will replace Lebanon, which currently occupies the Asian seat, on January 1, 2012, to begin a two-year term.
An elated Pakistan UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, who spearheaded the campaign for a seat on UN’s high table - the 15-member Security Council - said the vote was an acknowledgment the country’s services towards the maintenance of international peace and security.
“We worked very, very hard over the past months,” Ambassador Haroon said.
Pakistan has been on the council six times earlier - 1952-53, 1968-69, 1976-77, 1983-84, 1993-94 and 2003-04. It will be thus the seventh time Pakistan would be on the council, and the fourth time its term would overlap with India. Pakistan and India have shared terms on the Security Council in 1968, 1977 and 1984.
The Security Council has five veto-holding permanent members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes.
Since joining the United Nations in 1947, Ambassador Haroon said Pakistan has shown a strong commitment towards multilateralism and promoting the principles and purposes enshrined in the UN Charter. As a non-permanent member of the Security Council in the past, he said Pakistan made significant contribution to its work.
Over the last 50 years, Pakistan has been a leading contributor to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions. Currently, it has over 9,000 troops and other personnel deployed in eight UN Peacekeeping Missions around the world. “This amply demonstrates the country’s commitment to global peace and security,” Haroon said.
Pakistan’s extensive experience and active participation in the UN system makes it uniquely qualified to positively contribute towards addressing the current problems.
Besides Pakistan, Morocco and Guatemala also won seats on the UN Security Council for 2012-13 in a vote by the UN General Assembly. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk