Pakistan for inclusion of more non-permanent members in UN

ISLAMABAD: As India tried once again this week to push for seeking an entry as member of the UN Security Council, Pakistan says that instead of expanding the club of the powerful and privileged in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the best way instead would be to ensure an expansion of non-permanent members.
Indian Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, in a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has emphasised the need for urgent UN Security Council reform, saying it is now time to make the powerful body “vibrant” with the inclusion of India as a permanent member. She told Ban that India is ready to accept this new responsibility and the world’s largest democracy and emerging economy.
Sumirta’s lobbying with the secretary general comes in the backdrop of the world body commemorating its 70th anniversary this year, and also a time when India was still recovering from a huge shock when despite some very strong and public assurances by its allies, India was refused entry into this power club.
Three permanent powers of the UNSC, China, United States and Russia, recently opposed negotiations to reform the Council, thus dealing a blow to Indian ambitions of securing a permanent seat in this powerful body.
All three members of the UNSC giving solid reasons have clearly put their foot against reforming the Council by opposing “negotiations for reform and refusing to contribute to a text that will form the basis for the long-drawn reform process”.
When The News contacted Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations on expansion of the Security Council, she responded, “Pakistan wants to see a more democratic, representative, accountable and transparent Security Council, so any reform of the Council should not expand a club of the powerful and privileged. It should instead reflect the interests of all member states, in accordance with the principle of sovereign equality. That is why we believe the best way to achieve this is to ensure an expansion of non-permanent members because that will give a chance to more countries to serve in and have a voice in the Security Council.”
Many feel that the call for increasing the membership of the UNSC through equitable representation is genuine and understandable, as the last time the membership of the Council was increased (in 1965) there were 111 member states. This number has now increased to 193.
What is making the issue more complex is the rigid stand of the G-4 countries comprising of Brazil, India, Germany and Japan against the Uniting for Consensus Group (UFC) which includes Italy and Pakistan which is pleading for sanity and fair play.
What the G-4 fails to see in pursuit of their ambition is that the permanent members of the UNSC do not represent any region. The permanent membership is, in fact, not even a category of seats, since the five permanent members are mentioned by name in the UN Charter.
For more than two decades, the negotiations on reforming the Security Council have been stalled by the national ambition of the G-4 to secure for themselves a self-professed right at the cost of all members of United Nations. The UFC Group of countries advocates expansion of the non-permanent members of the UNSC.
Diplomats say that Dr Maleeha Lodhi has been very active on behalf of Pakistan as she strongly advocates that Islamabad stands for a “representative and effective”, Security Council.
It has been seen that while paying no attention to the principles and provisions of the UN Charter, the G-4 countries have continued to push their agenda through bilateral arm twisting of smaller countries. That approach has not yielded any results; a significant opposition continues to exist, most importantly, from the five permanent members of the UNSC.
What has been missing on the struggle of the G-4 is that they have been devoid of flexibility and compromise.
In addition to the fact that the G-4 remain well short of a two-thirds majority for passing a resolution in their favour, they do not have the support of the five permanent members. Nevertheless, the G-4 countries have continued to pursue a self-defeating strategy.
Twenty years on, the G-4 position remains fixed and rigid. Ironically, these countries blame the other group for stalling the reform of the Security Council. The only thing that their opposition is stalling is an unprincipled and undemocratic reform.
Many UN countries feel that had G-4 not imbued the reform process with their policy of securing a permanent advantage above others, one would have had seen a reformed Security Council long ago and as Pakistan advocates a Council “that would have been more democratic, accountable, transparent and effective”.