UNITED NATIONS, May 05 :Despite the divergent positions, the current Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) process to reform the United Nations Security Council to make it more effective, representative and accountable, is the \u201cbest avenue\u201d to accomplish that goal, Pakistan\u2019s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is only through patient exchanges, mutual accommodation and compromise that we can broaden the areas of convergence and reduce the points of divergence and thus evolve a \u2018model\u2019 for the reform that can be accepted by the widest possible majority of member states,\u201d he said at the last IGN session of the UN General Assembly\u2019s 77th session.<\/p>\n
The Pakistani envoy\u2019s remarks came amid a stepped up campaign by India, Brazil, Germany and Japan \u2014 known as Group of Four \u2014 for permanent membership of an expanded Security Council.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Akram said he looked forward to the resumption of negotiations to restructure the UN\u2019s most powerful body at the next session of the General Assembly, which opens in September.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he warned that any attempt to change the current process or its substance \u201cwill have a dramatically negative response.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should move forward \u2013 but we should move forward with caution \u2013 speeding ahead is likely to lead to a serious accident and wrack the vehicle that we have \u2014 which is the IGN process,\u201d the Pakistani envoy added.<\/p>\n
Full-scale negotiations to reform the Security Council began in the General Assembly in February 2009 on five key areas \u2014 the categories of membership, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an enlarged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the General Assembly.<\/p>\n
Progress towards restructuring the Security Council remains blocked as G-4 countries continue pushing for permanent seats in the Council, while the Italy\/Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group strongly opposes any additional permanent members.<\/p>\n
As a compromise, UfC has proposed a new category of members \u2014 not permanent members \u2014 with longer duration in terms and a possibility to get re-elected.<\/p>\n
The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members \u2014 Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States \u2014 and 10 non-permanent members elected to two-year terms.<\/p>\n
Responding to Brazil\u2019s statement, Ambassador Munir Akram said that that the UfC has displayed the maximum flexibility during the discussions over the years, but G-4 has not reciprocated. \u201cTheir (G-4\u2019s) position has not changed a bit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The Security Council reform, he said, should redress the existing imbalances in regional representation \u2013 adding to the representation of the under-represented regions and reducing, or at least not adding to the representation of the over-represented regions.<\/p>\n
In this regard, he said, \u201cWe are sensitive to and supportive of Africa\u2019s legitimate quest to rectify the \u201chistoric injustice\u201d against Africa as reflected in Common African Position\u201d \u2014 there is no permanent member from the African continent on the Council.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis position is very different from the unbound national ambitions of the G-4,\u201d the Pakistani envoy said.<\/p>\n
As regards pleas for Security Council reform as a response to the current toxic, global security environment, Ambassador Akram said the recent events have only confirmed the fact that difficulties arise in the form of the vetoes exercised by permanent members.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot then plead for more permanent members and more vetoes and more paralysis in the Security Council,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we certainly desire to achieve important progress and important decisions at the \u2018Summit of the Future\u2019 next year, our ambition is focused on achieving substantive decisions and commitments on international peace and security, on disarmament, on development, on climate change and other substantive issues that we face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not rushing to fulfill our ambitions for a permanent seat on the Security Council,\u201d Ambassador Akram said, obviously taking a dig at G-4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, May 05 :Despite the divergent positions, the current Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) process to reform the United Nations Security Council to make it more effective, representative and accountable, is the \u201cbest avenue\u201d to accomplish that goal, Pakistan\u2019s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said Thursday. \u201cIt is only through patient exchanges, mutual accommodation and compromise that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-329488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n