Online
\nNew York
\nPakistan\u2019s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi told the world body that any expansion in the permanent category of Security Council seats is a \u2018red line\u2019 for Pakistan.
\nParticipating in the second day of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform, Ambassador Lodhi said that such expansion would undermine each and every principle of democracy and accountability to which Pakistan attaches importance. She also called for developing a clearer understanding on the red lines of all member states, said a press release issued on Wednesday
\nClarifying Pakistan\u2019s position on text-based negotiations on reform she said that a text was a vehicle to facilitate an outcome when a broad agreement exists among Member States. A text does not \u201ccreate\u201d an agreement among fundamentally different positions.
\nShe said this was the reason why such an approach has not worked inside the IGN \u2013 or even outside it \u2013 if efforts are not to forgotten that were undertaken by some negotiating groups outside the IGN process a few years ago.
\nPakistan\u2019s approach Ambassador Lodhi said, has always been to address the fundamental questions on reform. \u201cWe believe that if they are addressed in an open, objective and pragmatic manner, the broad contours of a possible reform model would emerge quite easily\u201d, she added.
\nAmbassador Lodhi quoted statistics to supplement her arguments against the addition of more permanent members. In 1945, she said, only 6 seats were available for 46 members of the General Assembly. In 1965, 10 seats were available for 112 members of the GA. \u201cToday, the same 10 seats are available for 188 members of the General Assembly \u2013 a ratio of 1:19. To us, it is clear from this that there is neither logic nor room for more permanent members in the Council\u201d, she added.
\nThe second day of the inter governmental negotiations which took the form of an interactive session , saw divergent positions being expressed by representatives of different countries.
\nPakistan aligned itself with a group of countries called Uniting for Consensus UFC) that advocate creating a new category of seats in the Security Council of longer term duration and with the possibility of one reelection. Other countries that spoke from the UFC, included Italy, Mexico , Spain, South Korea and Argentina. All made a strong case for expanding the number of elected seats while the G4 (India, Brazil, Germany and Japan) argued for adding to the permanent category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online New York Pakistan\u2019s Ambassador to the UN Maleeha Lodhi told the world body that any expansion in the permanent category of Security Council seats is a \u2018red line\u2019 for Pakistan. Participating in the second day of the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) on Security Council reform, Ambassador Lodhi said that such expansion would undermine each and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n