By By Azim Mian
Pakistani ambassador and his staff were also busy with the visit of Bilawal Zardari to the UN. Minutes after Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his aides left the United Nations, a press release was issued by a UN Security Councilís committee appointed under the Resolution 1267 of 1999 and further strengthened by subsequent resolutions with Resolution 1822 of 2008.
The statement said the committee had added names of four individuals and three organisations to the list of those whose assets should be frozen, movement banned and denied any sale or supply of arms under the provisions of the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 and 1822 along with some additional UN resolutions in this regard.
Such a simple decision made under Chapter VII of the UN charter is binding on all members of the UN, including Pakistan. The decision involved three Pakistani citizens and three Pakistan-based organisations; yet Pakistanís Ambassador Hussain Abdullah Haroon conceded that he was not aware of this UN decision until some Pakistani media men informed him and at about 9.40 pm local time (7.40 am Thursday PST) he received a “Pink” note regarding this UN decision. Pakistani citizens had been declared terrorists and their organisations banned, their assets frozen but Pakistani diplomats did not know about it? Now it is Pakistan’s obligation as a member country of the UN to comply and implement this decision without any objection and without considering its fallout.
This episode raises many crucial questions of national importance. Has Pakistan failed in diplomacy or external forces are taking advantage of chaos and lack of governance in Pakistan? So many managers but no decision and no coherent planning and action!
Is it some negligent diplomats in New York or at the Foreign Office who did not keep an eye on the UN process? Or was it that India took full advantage of the US cooperation and manoeuvred at the UN to get this decision in the aftermath of terrorism in Mumbai?
The most important aspect of this decision is that the UN committee is composed of members of the UN Security Council. Currently, two Muslim countries, Libya and Indonesia, are on the UN Security Council and in this committee. The great friend of Pakistan, China, and ally, the US, and the UK are also in the committee.
We have good understanding on certain issues with Italy. Small nations like Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and Costa Rica have cordial relations with Pakistan. Out of 15 members, there was not a single member country to inform Pakistan what was going on in that committee. Moreover, the record shows that the committee held its meeting on Nov 12, 2008.
Yet we remained uninformed about a committee decision that is going to shape our future from now onward. During Ambassador Munir Akramís days, Pakistan was leading many European, Latin American and Asian and African countries on crucial issues like terrorism, expansion of the UN Security Council and other matters. Suddenly, a downward change has taken place.
Our great ally the USA, friendly China, Muslim brother countries, Libya and Indonesia, were part of the decision, but they neither consulted nor informed Pakistan about the ongoing process in the committee.
Some diplomatic sources at the UN say the matter was handled at the highest level in Islamabad and that was why the Pakistani mission at the UN was not in the picture. Under intense pressure from our allies and due to quiet, effective and strong Indian lobby, Pakistani leaders in Islamabad had agreed to comply with this decision as and when taken.
According to these sources, the committee made this decision after the approval of their capitals. Top Pakistani political leadership knew about it and they kept it to themselves until their own diplomats at the UN were caught by surprise.
Is it a failure of the Pakistani diplomacy? Is Pakistan diplomatically isolated like in 1971? Or the Pakistani leadership has deliberately decided to accept and comply with the decision? Soon, the Pakistani nation will find an answer to these questions, because ultimately facts do surface at the multinational forum of the UN, as it happened with weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.